Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, at Hyde Park, N. Y., is a monument to an era. It is a magnificent example of the palatial estates developed by financiers and industrialists in the period between the Civil War and World War I—a time when the United States surged into world prominence as an industrial nation and the new age of machines created great wealth that was almost untouched by taxation.

Focal point of the site is the mansion. Built in the Italian Renaissance style, its architecture and its furnishings show how strongly European art and culture influenced wealthy Americans at the turn of the 20th century. Vanderbilt Mansion is figuratively a palace transplanted from the Old World to the banks of the historic Hudson River.

The extensive grounds surrounding the mansion have been a part of great estates for almost two centuries. From natural terraces fronting the Hudson, the grounds level off to the open woods and lawns of an English-type park, then descend to forested seclusion in the valley of Crum Elbow Creek. Notable specimen trees dot the landscape, many of them from Europe and Asia. All these features combine to provide a setting worthy of the mansion itself.

Frederick William Vanderbilt made this estate his country home for 43 years, from 1895 until his death in 1938. Frederick was a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt—the Commodore—who had founded the family fortune in shipping and railroading.