Description of the Mansion (continued)

Grand stairway.
Courtesy The New York Times Studio.

GRAND STAIRWAY

On the wall opposite the foot of the stairway is an 18th-century Flemish tapestry. The floor in the lower-stair hall is old Italian marble. A chair and marble fernery are Italian, and a large Chinese bowl of the Ming Dynasty is about 500 years old. Italian busts and statues occupy niches along the way. At one of the landings is a painting by the French artist, Adrien Moreau. An early 18th-century Beauvais tapestry hangs on the second-floor wall.

SECOND FLOOR

North Foyer. On a Louis XVI table stands an incense burner fashioned of marble and cloisonne. Overhead is a chandelier of beaded crystal; one of similar design is in the south foyer. Hanging here are original paintings by the 19th-century artists, Schreyer, Bougereau, and Villegas. Frederick Vanderbilt was more noted for the fine tapestries he collected than for outstanding paintings.

Blue Room. This is the largest of the guest rooms. Mrs. James Van Alen, the niece of Mrs. Vanderbilt who donated the mansion to the Federal Government, used this room during her visits to the Vanderbilts. The windows of this room command a splendid view of the Hudson and the mountains beyond. A white onyx French clock and companion pieces adorn the mantel, and a rare old (Ghiordes) prayer rug is spread before the fireplace.

Common to all guestrooms is the 18th-century French style of furniture and the use of a distinct color scheme. The guestrooms, unless otherwise noted, are believed to reflect the design of New York decorator Ogden Codman.

Mauve Room. Most of the furnishings in this room are of French design. In the center of the room is a finely woven Persian dower rug. Pieces on the mantel are of the French Empire period. Each guestroom has a bath and one or more closets. The bathroom accessories always matched the color scheme of the guestroom.

Second floor hall.

Second Floor Hall. In 1906, architect Whitney Warren installed the balustrade which now overlooks the reception hall.

In the second floor hall are three 18th-century Flemish tapestries, two Italian fringed and embroidered hangings draped over the balustrade, and two sets of matched high-backed chairs in walnut—one set of six chairs, one of four. A teakwood cabinet is of Chinese design.

Red Rooms. These rooms open onto the second floor hall and are connected by a doorway to form a two-room suite. Furnishings are in the French style. A frieze on a Greek subject embellishes the 18th-century English Georgian mantel in the larger room.

South Foyer. This leads to the master bedrooms. French doors can be closed to separate this wing from the rest of the second floor. In the foyer are paintings by Kellar-Reutlingen and Firman-Girard.

Frederick Vanderbilt's room. Note tapestried walls.

Frederick Vanderbilt's Room. This room has carved woodwork of Circassian walnut. The bed and dresser were designed as part of the woodwork and were installed by Norcross Brothers. The room was designed by Georges A. Glaenzer. The walls and doors are covered with 17th-century Flemish tapestry. Hand-painted designs on the silk lampshades match those on the Chinese bases. The fireplace has a large carved mantel. On the floors are dark-red rugs made in India.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's bedroom.
Courtesy The New York Times Studio.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's Room. In this room, as in the Gold Room down stairs, there was an attempt at accurate reproduction. This room, designed by Ogden Codman, is a reproduction of a French queen's bedroom of the Louis XV period. The bed is surrounded by a rail. (In French practice, courtiers gathered around the rail for morning levees.) The wall at the head of the bed is covered with hand-embroidered silk. Other walls are wood paneled and inset with French paintings. The heavily napped rug was made especially for this room; it weighs 2,300 pounds. Furniture is French 18th-century. Created by Paul Sormani, it is modeled on Louis XV period pieces. A curio case in front of the bedrail contains French fans and inside the rail is a prayer table and kneeling cushion.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's bed.

Boudoir. Adjoining the bedroom is the boudoir, furnished in the same motif. Notable pieces include a Dresden chandelier-and-candelabra set.

THIRD FLOOR

The third floor, which is closed to visitors, is divided into two sections; one contains five more guestrooms, and the other the servants quarters. The third floor guestrooms are as elaborate as any on the second floor and consist of the Pink Room, with white painted furniture—often used by Frederick Vanderbilt in the winter; the Little Mauve Room, furnished with oak furniture; the Empire Room, with French Empire period furniture and satin-covered walls to match the covering on the furniture and bed; and the White Room, with white furniture, drapes, and upholstery.

Empire room.

Female employees of the mansion were quartered in the servants' rooms on the third floor. In addition to the housekeeper's suite of two rooms, there were single rooms for seven maids, two cooks, and a kitchen girl, and a room for sewing and pressing. The maids' rooms are, of course, simpler in decoration and furnishings than the guestrooms.

When the nine guestrooms in the mansion could not accommodate everyone present, the pavilion was used as a guesthouse.

BASEMENT OF THE MANSION

The basement contains the rooms that were used by male employees of the mansion. There were single rooms for the three butlers, a room for visiting valets, and a room for the day and night men. In addition there were four storage rooms, two laundry rooms, a pressing room, a wine cellar, and an ice room. The kitchen was located under the dining room. Food prepared here was lifted via a large dumbwaiter to the butler's pantry on the first floor, then carried from there into the dining room, where it was served. The servants' hall, used as a recreation and dining room by the servants, was also located in the basement.