'The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House: Fifth Avenue's Largest Mansion' Webinar

While the terms "biggest" and "most expensive" are often used to describe estates built during the Gilded Age era, The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House that once stood between 57th and 58 Streets on New York City’s Fifth Avenue — then dubbed as "Two Miles of Millionaires" — was truly one of the largest of the day. Estimated to have over 100 rooms, the almost five-story mansion dominated the Grand Army Plaza with sweeping views of Central Park South. But how the mansion became the largest makes for one of the most interesting stories of all the New York City Gilded Age mansions. It's time to uncover the full story of this lost and almost forgotten symbol of wealth, power, and privilege from beginning to end.

Join New York Adventure Club for an in-depth exploration of The Cornelius Vanderbilt II House (1883-1926)— still considered one of New York City's largest houses ever built, this mega mansion on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets boasted over 100 rooms featuring numerous gilded paneled parlors, a French-style ballroom, and a grand marble staircase inspired by a famous French Chateau.

Led by historian Gary Lawrance, our virtual look at the Cornelius Vanderbilt II House will include:

• A brief history of the Vanderbilt family, from the creation of the fortune by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt to how his son and grandchildren spent it
• Early photographs and floor plans of the first Cornelius Vanderbilt II house — built in 1877 by architect George B. Post, this smaller mansion at the same address was equal in size and opulence to other mansions of the era
• A discussion of what the Vanderbilts wanted their architect to achieve for the new monumental palace, and with what was reused and retained from the old mansion
• A look at the 1883 mansion's final design through rare floor plans and drawings, along with photos showcasing the interiors furnished with a mixture of rare antiques, art, and stained glass
• Stories surrounding the social events, weddings, and tragedies that happened at the house over a 40 year span
• The mansion's final years as it became eclipsed by much taller buildings along Fifth Avenue, and as the neighborhood went from a peaceful residential street to a noisy and crowded metropolitan center
• Why Alice Vanderbilt sold the property in the 1920s and downsized her residence to a smaller mansion

Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A with Gary — any and all questions about the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion are welcomed and encouraged!

Can't make it live? Don't worry, you'll have access to the full replay for one week!

See you there, virtually!

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***A full replay of the experience will be available to all registered guests for up to a week

****If the event has already passed, but it's been less than a week, you can still register for it on our website's active replay section!

About Gary

Architect, Author, and Historian Gary Lawrance is an architect from Stony Brook, New York. His firm, Lawrance Architectural Presentations, provides design presentations, architectural models, digital renderings, and design development services to architects, landscape architects and interior designers.

Mr. Lawrance has an extensive background in the history of Gilded Age architecture, landscapes, and society, and co-authored the bestselling book, “Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930” with Anne Surchin (Acanthus Press 2007, Revised 3rd Printing 2013).

Mr. Lawrance’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, Newsday, New York Social Diary, Southampton Press, and more. Mr. Lawrance has written for Architectural Digest, Dan’s Papers, Quest magazine, and his two blogs, Mansions of the Gilded Age and Houses of the Hamptons in addition to founding the two very successful social media sites, Mansions of the Gilded Age & The Gilded Age Society on Facebook & Instagram with over 500,000 members & followers combined.

Testimonials

"Gary Lawrence is the best!" -Ashley

"Gary is so knowledgeable and talks about great content." -Andrea

"Good information about a very interesting family and some of their houses" -Celia

"Gary is always great. Such good information. Really well done." -Noelle

"Very interesting content presented by a very knowledgeable expert on the Gilded Age. Gary Lawrence is one of my favorite experts of all the knowledgeable people who present these webinars. We should not forget these great homes of the Gilded Age. They are the pinnacle of architectural accomplishment." -Charles

"I've missed seeing Gary and this was a particularly interesting and informative presentation." -Leslie

"Very thorough and lots of photos" -Richard

"Seeing all the pictures and learning about the people and their interactions" -Meghan

"Enjoyed the images and stories" -Kerry

"The presenter was obviously very knowledgeable and his presentation was interesting and well-paced." -Pamela

"Very interesting and informative; Presenter was extremely knowledgeable about the topic" -Karin

"Mr Lawrence was very impressive with his knowledge and his collection of pictures and floor plans from the era!" -Becky

"Gary is a great presenter and his knowledge of the Gilded Age properties and architecture, their history, families, etc. is impressive. I especially enjoy seeing the floor plans of the properties." -Patricia

"I liked all of it! Great photos" -Linda

"He knows hs subject!" -Robert

"The information presented was something I am really interested in....have more like it." -Ronald

"Enjoyed it all, however, really interesting to see the floor plans of these great homes." -Jan

"Gary is so knowledgeable. I thought I knew everything about this house and he managed to teach me things I didn't know. Great presenter." -Cynthia

"Gary was thorough which I was thrilled about." -Mark

"I liked the narrator and the pace of the presentation." -Carl

"Well presented, informative." -Michele

"Absolutely fascinating and presented so well." -Bernadette

"I enjoyed the photos enormously, as well as being shown how the locations have changed over the years." -Michelle

"Extremely well researched and clear. Great curating of photos. I stay one block away when I am in NYC and I absolutely loved seeing what this area looked like back in the day. I also am a proud alum of Vanderbilt University!" -Martha

"Excellent photos, obviously the presenter did a lot of homework, so much great information." -Gail

"Enjoyed it. Learned a lot. Confirmed quite a lot of what I thought." -David

"Enthusiasm & knowledge of the presenter. Thank you for an enjoyable presentation." -Linda

"A nice in-depth look at one of the "Vanderbilt houses" with good visual support, and interesting background on the family and other houses they occupied." -Lahring

"Gary is very knowledgeable and has lots of images and blueprints as part of his presentation." -Nancy

"Very well organized. The presenter was knowledgeable and provided the right amount of background before delving into more detail on the topic. This is my first webinar with this organization and I found it a great value for the price. I really enjoyed this. I’ll try this again when I see another intriguing topic!" -Kristin

"The organization of the material led up to the main topic - the magnificent Vanderbilt mansion, long demolished - in such a way that I obtained a comprehensive overview of the subject." -Charles

"I liked learning the history of the Vanderbilt’s and the photos" -Linda C.

"It was extremely informative" -Tonya

"Great images and fun information." -Karen

"Loaded with interesting facts and photos, very well paced and presented. I especially liked the progression of photos that showed the area of the Vanderbilts' house before the house was built, while it was there, and after it was demolished and replaced by Bergdorf Goodman." -Nancy

"Wonderful content. Great slides" -Mary

"Presenter’s knowledge and pictures I have not seen before" -Bonnie

"Having heard Gary Lawrance’s many previous lectures, this did have new information and illustrations." -Susan

"The amount of information and the pictures. Gary is a wonderful host, I could listen to him all day. This was my first webinar but won’t be my last!" -Cara

"The beautiful photographs and historical content" -Kelly

"An exellent look at an era thru the lens of one house. Presented by an excellent architect and historian of the era. This was a great webinar. I've taken this one before, but the material was just as fresh and interesting another time around. Love looking at the illustrations." -Charles

"The information was interesting" -Patti

"The presenter was very knowledgeable." -Santiago

"I loved seeing all the old black & white photos of the interiors of the mansions. I'm fascinated by this era, my interest being ignited by The Gilded Age drama series - can't wait for the second season! I'm also really looking forward to some more Gilded Age webinars I've booked through this platform." -Aliki

"Enjoyed both the history of New York and photos and floor plans of the buildings." -Laurel

"Mr. Lawrance is so very knowledgeable about the Gilded Age. He presents such interesting facts not only about the buildings but about the people who lived in them." -Shirley

"Illustrations, photos and descriptions are great. Presenter explains what we see on the screen .. as if we were standing in front of the buildings that are "long gone". I also appreciate the family background and family tree of the Vanderbilt. Unless I missed .. I think sharing a family tree sporadically throughout the program would have helped -- so many Vanderbilts -- knowing which generation & what time period is being discussed. From Commodore Vanderbilt, his son William Vanderbilt, and this children. The first two sons William K and Cornelius .. seeing their siblings names. Great to see throughout two hour presentation. Plus sending PDF ahead of time would be great. I find Vanderbilt family history so fascinating. I look forward to other presentations." -Diana

"Provided a few points I did not know about the Vanderbilt family" -Angela

"Great detail, interesting topic." -Thomas

"Presenter was extremely knowledgeable and his passion for the "gilded age" was very evident." -Susan

"I am interested in this topic and the presenter was very thorough and knowledgable and I especially enjoyed all the photos and supporting material." -Jean

"Learning about the Vanderbilts & seeing pictures of what used to be." -Aleisa

"Historical comparisons of photos from then and now." -Marlena

"Very interesting and informative. Loved all the pictures" -Dee

"Excellent resesearch and trajectory of the mansions to present day NYC." -Donna

"Extremely informative. Very well organized. Great presentation." -Tom

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Categories: Virtual, Gilded Age

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