Starting this week: 12 posts with an illustrated decade-by-decade timeline for the years 1900 to 2021. This week's installment covers 1900-1909. For more on the timeline and a link to…
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For the history of the mansion and the downstairs rooms, see last week's post. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/OkHKGWBtKDM. This week, we're mounting this lovely staircase…
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May 17, 2022
Ventfort: Stairs from the main entrance to the second floor.
This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/mehgweDIyik. The Gilded Age mansions of the late nineteenth century were the homes of entrepreneurs who earned their wealth by advancing science, technology, and…
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May 10, 2022
Louis Majorelle, stained-glass windows for the Longwy Steelworks, 1926.
In 2021, I emailed 157 art-related items to my members of my free Sunday Recommendations list. (To join, just ask me: DuranteDianne@gmail.com.) For supporters, I recommended 52 more items. The items…
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These are my favorites among the thousands of photos I took last year in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Rhode Island, Florida, and Washington, DC. To make the cut, the subject…
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December 30, 2021
Erastus Salisbury Field, Historical Monument of the American Republic, 1867-1888. Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA.
In my weekly email of Sunday Recommendations, I promise "art-related suggestions meant to inspire, to provoke wonder or thought, or simply to amaze by sheer beauty." The Historical Monument of…
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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…
Many Gilded Age mansions have fabulous gardens that remained open during most of the Corona-virus pandemic, even if the mansions were locked up. Since 2020, I've visited Ventfort, Naumkeag, and…
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September 28, 2021
Conservatory in Central Park, 1902. Image: Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of Central Park, 1902.
If you've read any of my books on Alexander Hamilton, you know I'm a fanatic about primary sources. So when I started to research Central Park, one of my first…
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September 21, 2021
Casino in Central Park, 1863. Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners for Central Park, 1864.
If you've read any of my books on Alexander Hamilton, you know I'm a fanatic about primary sources. So when I started to research Central Park, one of my first…
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