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On The Breakers and other Gilded Age mansions, see last week’s post.

Alice Vanderbilt’s bedroom

Even though this room is decorated in the Louis XVI style, it’s much more restful on the eye than the downstairs rooms. (I am always startled by the size of the beds in Gilded Age mansions. They seem so small!)

Alice and Cornelius had seven children. After Cornelius died in 1899, Alice lived in The Breakers until her death in 1934. The house passed to her youngest (and only surviving) child, Gladys Vanderbilt, who had married Count Laszlo Szechenyi.

Upper loggia

Hands down my favorite room in the house.

The ceiling is painted to mimic a fabric canopy. In the corners of the room are four cherubs, who are among the most charming reliefs in the mansion.

If it becomes chilly in this semi-outdoor space, you can curl up in one of the wicker chairs with a canopy and “portholes”.

The Gallery

The stained glass ceiling panel is by John La Farge. Next to Louis Comfort Tiffany, La Farge was America’s most famous maker of stained glass. The panel is above the main staircase, which leads down to the Great Hall.

The tapestry above the stairs is seventeenth-century Dutch. The sculptures in the corners seem to be copies of rather uninspiring Roman works. (I admire the workmanship of all the decorative arts at The Breakers, but few of the sculptures are inspiring.) Toward the left is a portrait of Commodore Vanderbilt.

Kitchen

Huge house, huge parties, huge kitchen.

A friend who took the tour with me pointed out that most elements of this sort of mansion are quite predictable: they are, after all, copied from architecture that is centuries old. The only unexpected feature at The Breakers is this semi-circular concrete enclosure just outside the kitchen. What was it for? I have no idea.

Facade facing the Atlantic

Children’s Playhouse Cottage

This “cottage” was built in 1886 to match the house that occupied the site at that time. It was used as a play area for Gladys, the youngest of the Vanderbilt children. The caryatids in the shape of children are odd but charming.

More

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