Quite possibly the most fascinating of the Vanderbilt houses was the Triple Palace.
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Today we are exploring a 3 mansions under one roof.
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Following the death of his father, William H Vanderbilt constructed a mansion at 640
Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan that would come to be known as the Triple Palace.
He hired Charles B Atwood and John B Snook to carry out his complicated vision for his
dream house.
William had an extensive art collection and needed space to display all of it.
He also wanted a private space for his daughters Emily and Margaret to live with their own
families.
The house was designed to have a single family unit in the southern wing and a duplex on
the northern wing.
This design allowed William to remain close to his family while allowing his daughters
to live their own lives in private.
In the press, the house would be referred to as the Vanderbilt Twins because it was
really two separate mansions that had been married by their design while housing 3 branches
of the same family.
The two wings of the mansion were connected by a portico and separated by a large courtyard
and tied together by a unified brownstone façade.
Originally, the mansion had been planned to boast a limestone façade, but William wanted
something more practical and familiar, so he changed the plans to suit his preference
at the last moment of the design process.
Snook and Atwood sought out classical elements to inspire the design of the house.
It boasted doric and Corinthian style columns along it’s façade and was graced by horizontal
string courses to delineate the stories of the house.
Ornate entablatures depicted vines wrapping around in 3 dimensions.
Many of the windows were adorned with vases overflowing with flowers.
Looking up further along the façade, the cornice would have demanded attention to the
lions heads set boldly beneath the parapet wall surrounded by a balustrade.
This detail served to cap off the house in lieu of a pitched roof.
On the first floor, both mansions were connected by doors that would be opened to accommodate
large parties as the families would jointly entertain guests.
Unlike many of the other homes, this house was completely surrounded by grass and separated
from the sidewalk by balustrades with ornate bronze lanterns affixed to them at intervals.
The pavement stones leading into the portico were laid on a massive scale.
The largest stone to be quarried to this time in American history weighed over 44 thousand
pounds with dimensions of about 25 feet by 15 feet and was laid out in front of the portico.
Approaching the southern wing of the mansion, before going inside, would have left any guest
in awe and in anticipation of what other marvels might be found behind the front door.
You would have entered the southern wing through a vestibule that was paved in mosaic marble
tiles that extended from the floor to decorate the walls and the ceiling surrounding a skylight
overhead.
The main door, crafted from bronze, connected the vestibule to the house’s interior cost
William a whopping 25,000 dollars or the modern day equivalent of about 600,000 dollars.
Opening these doors lead you to the main hallway clad with marble floors and graced with wood
paneling and a solid marble fireplace complimented by feminine bronze reliefs.
Branching off from the hall way was a 3 story art gallery that had its own entrance from
51st street.
Off of the gallery were a couple of other rooms including a conservatory.
Traveling along the main hallway would have taken you to a large dining room with elliptical
arched ceilings inlaid with wood paneling.
Continuing through the main hall you would have encountered various other rooms including
the drawing room, parlor, and library.
The drawing room contained red velvet walls and sculptural butterflies made from mother
of pearl which would have glowed in the flickering light.
The library carried on this iridescent glow by incorporating mother of pearl into the
furniture.
The parlor was themed separately to be based on Japanese design with faux bamboo ceilings
and lacquered cabinets.
The grand staircase was crafted by artisans from oak and wrapped around a lightwell spanning
60 feet in length.
Decorating the walls around the stairs were 9 stained glass windows with scenes to depict
the success of the Vanderbilt family and their wealth.
Exploring the second floor, each bedroom would have been completely unique with their own
themes and finishes done to the taste of each individual family member.
The Duplex to the north was just as grand in its own right with mirrored galleries,
grand parlors, a billiards room, ornate dining rooms, and reception rooms for each.
On the third floor were guest rooms which surrounded the lightwell, each of them shared
dressing rooms and had private staircases leading to the rooftop terrace.
The North wing of the house was just as grand in it’s own right with each side of the
duplex having reception rooms, mirrored galleries, a billiards room, and everything else befitting
of a Vanderbilt.T
The creation of this house involved of 600 workers to construct the building, not including
the 60 european sculptors brought in to decorate the house inside and out.
By the time the house was finished, it cost 2 million dollars to complete, or the modern
day equivalent of nearly 50 million dollars, the majority of which was spent decorating
the rooms.
In 1883, the art gallery was extended and William invited 1000 guests to attend a ball,
a couple of weeks later he celebrated the grand opening of his new art gallery and invited
3000 guests.
William then opened his art gallery to the public to allow anyone to come and be inspired
by the paintings he so loved.
Unfortunately, the general public did not behave in the manor in which William expected
them to while visiting his home, so he closed gallery to the public and and reopened it
strictly by invitation only.
In 1885, William unexpectedly passed away leaving the house to his daughter Maria who
was to leave the house to Williams youngest son George upon her passing.
The will stipulated the house and collection should remain in the family to be passed down
from son to son.
In 1896, maria died and left the house to George, but George was already building the
Biltmore Mansion in north Carolina and had no interest in living in his father’s home
which he considered to be outdated and passe.
By 1902, George had figured out what to do with the house.
He separated the north and south wings by demolishing the porticos and began renovations
on the south mansion.
In 1905, the northern mansion, now independent from the southern mansion, was rented to Henry
Clay Frick who had gained his wealth by becoming the largest private stockholder in the railroad
industry.
Frick had been obsessed with the house for many years as it had always reigned as the
top destination for art enthusiasts and was distinctive in the upper echelons.
Frick was quick to renovate the mansion to bring it up to date with modern lighting and
bathrooms.
Frick loved the house and attempted to purchase it from George, however, George and Frick
were not able to untangle William’s will which prohibited the sale of the house.
Frick set out instead to build his own house in the neighborhood.
Before Frick’s house could be finished, George died.
George did not have any male heirs to pass along the house to and so it was bequeathed
to Cornelius Vanderbilt the third.
Cornelius demanded that Frick vacate the property and began renovating the mansion yet again.
He spent a total of 500,000 dollars, or the modern day equivalent of about 10 million
dollars to suit his needs.
Cornelius the third would go on to host political leaders from around the world including united
states presidents.
With taxes now soaring, the Vanderbilts could no longer afford to hang on to their properties.
Emily Vanderbilt sold her share of the northern mansion and Cornelius followed in doing the
same, disregarding the terms of the William’s will.
In July of 1941, the Vanderbilt family came together to host a couple of final events
in the house.
They opened the doors to the public and charged 1 dollar for admission to benefit charity.
Cornelius the third passed away in 1942, marking the end of an era for the Vanderbilt family.
In 1943, Cornelius the third’s widow sold the Vanderbilt art collection for the modern
day equivalent of about 4 million dollars which was at a heavy discount compared to
the amount spent acquiring the art.
The furniture was then sold off, much of it making its way to Hollywood to be used as
props for motion pictures being made by Paramount Pictures.
In 1947, demolition of the house had begun and would be finished by march of 1949.
The cornerstone for the new building was laid and the last of the 7 vanderbilt mansions
along fifth avenue in midtown had been demolished, bringing to an end the era of robber barons
in new York.
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