Vanderbilt Mansion

Take the tour through the summer home of Vanderbilt. Very interesting. Unbelievable craftsmanship of wood, marble, plaster, AND more. Very informative about their lives and that of the servents lives. They all received money from a will.

As a runner, I’m always excited to find a new place to jog through, and Vanderbilt is runner’s paradise. It’s expansive, scenic and full of little tucked away trails with absolutely gorgeous views all around. If you spend enough time exploring, you’ll probably walk through one of their immaculate gardens (seriously, they’re impressively well kept), or end up on a wooded path, or you’ll get stuck staring at the mansion on the property, trying to fathom what that much wealth feels like.
The estate is one of the few free things you’ll find in this life. No parking fee, no admissions ticket — nothing. I’m waiting for the day that someone slaps a fee on the whole thing, but until then, I’m going to utilize it as much as possible. It great for kids, it’s an easy way to fill up a Sunday afternoon or it can be a cute, easy date.
One of the things that I really love is that I’ve been here about a million times and I definitely haven’t even come close to seeing everything on the grounds. Part of my problem is that I gravitate toward the waterfront every time I head over there, but the view is too beautiful to just consciously pass up. In the meantime, I love getting outside and taking a few hours here and I’m looking forward to some autumn afternoons on the grounds.

Extremely well kept estate! The trails and roads in and out are very well maintained! The garden and fountains are all very beautiful! The scenery unbelievable! Hudson river views all picture perfect!!!

Really nice place to go. Tour guide Mike really knew his stuff. It is so worth the trip.
I was surprised it is public grounds, people jogging, dog walking, free parking. Parking is free, grounds are beautiful. $ 10 fee to get tour inside house and it’s worth it.

This place is gorgeous. 212 acres of land that is free to roam. That’s right, FREE. There is no admission to get in and there is no parking fee. All you need to pay for is the tour of the mansion if you want to see the inside. 10 bucks for the tour, very worth it. The tour guide, Mary, really knew her stuff and was ready to answer any questions. The inside of the mansion is just, wow. There’s also a big garden to the left of the mansion with grapevines and a small pond. Near the exit there is a road leading down to where the dock for their boat used to be. Another place that you should definitely explore and take the time to sit and soak in the beauty of nature. Also dog-​friendly!

This was such a cool tour and our tour guide was amazing. The house was pretty big and it was very cool to be able to wander around and see how it was setup. There wasn’t much to see on the grounds, just some gardens and we were there at the best time for the flowers to be blooming, but the house was very impressive.

Thisi s a great place to be at for the tour, or if you want to walk the grounds. The view of the Hudson is terrific. And the house itself is a wonderful throwback to an era long past. The house itself because of its once grand proprietors is ostentatious, garish, if not disgusting. The amount of money and resources used to build this, and simply to flaunt one’s wealth in the late 1800s/​early 1900s, is jarring. But it’s still not something to miss if you’re ever in the area. They get a lot more traffic than the FDR Library or house down the street. The guides from the National Park Service are incredibly knowledgeable, and give very good tours.

Absolutely beautiful! My boyfriend and I got a chance to go inside and it was just so beautiful! Worth the trip for sure! Even if you just walk around the park! So much to see and so many picture perfect spots! Definitely come on the fall/​summer! Best times to see and enjoy the mansion! I love it here! Especially my dog! He loves walking the trails and paths!

The mansion is pretty incredible and our tour guide really knew his stuff. The mansion was easy to get to, very impressive, and has fabulous grounds. I’d definitely recommend you visit.
Go in knowing that you’re going to be envious. Makes it easier to swallow :)

Fantastic building and grounds.
Tour started in the guests quarters with a brief history of the Vanderbilt family and how they parlayed their holdings into the Central Railroad empire.
The main structure is a beautiful Beaux Arts edifice, which at a giant 55,000 square feet and 55 rooms was still the smallest of all the Vanderbilt mansions.
The tour encompasses the elliptical central hall and its oculus and you are able to peer into the Gilded Age rooms on the first two levels. The highlights being the massive dining room and Fredrick and Louise Vanderbilt’s bedrooms.
The tour concludes on the lower level where the majority of the servants would have quartered and gives you a good idea how large of a staff the mansion required to operate for the few weeks out of the year it was utilized.
The docent was very knowledgeable and patiently answered everyone’s questions. The tour is about an hour and was well worth the $ 10 admission.

This mansion served as the summer home of Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt, who were here for approximately 6 months of the year. It’s a symbol of the gilded age, though the guide says that these Vanderbilts actually lived more modestly in comparison their relatives. When the mansion was first furnished, it was for $ 1.5 million (what one of Frederick’s sister-in-law’s parties would cost).
The mansion is very imposing on the outside, inside we didn’t get to see that many rooms, but there were still some interesting furnishings, and drapings influenced and brought over from France or Europe. The house had electricity and running water when it was built.
The grounds are quite large, has trees planted from the 1700’s and parts of it overlook the Hudson River.
The NPS guide was interesting and provided entertaining knowledge.

While we didn’t get a chance to do a tour of the inside of the mansion… the grounds are gorgeous and the views of the Hudson valley are phenomenal. I would definitely recommend a visit if you’re in the area.

Beautiful mansion made of concrete and marble set back on spacious grounds.
The inside is modern. I could picture myself living there today and I was so surprised with how modern and up to date the plumbing in the bathrooms looked. Plus this place had electric light, central heat…
Our tour guide seemed to know a lot, full of information regarding the house and the family.
We toured three floors including the basement /​servant’s quarters. It reminded me of Downton Abbey.
Our tour guide also told us about the outdoor Italian gardens so we went to look at them (under construction for the most part and the flowers a tad faded). Returning from the garden, we were treated to views of the Hudson River as well as the old trees (oak?) on the estate… some of them look to be at least 200 years old, as they are large thick monsters of trees. What a treat to be there in the summer.
We next visited the quaint little bookstore which was set inside the old bacherlor’s quarters (when the Vanderbilts had single men as guests).
Glad I visited…

A friend of mine decided to try out her photography skills on me when I needed someone who could do some maternity shots for me. She choose the Vanderbilt Mansion as her backdrop and on April 13^th, I became her model for the day.
Now we went here in the very early part of Spring, with only the buds on the trees peeking through, but it was drop dead gorgeous! The views are unbeatable, and the mansion itself it so beautiful. This is definitely a fantastic place to bring your kids for some fun outdoor play, to bring your dogs for a walk or to have a photo shoot like we did! The options for great photo ops are endless in any season.
I honestly want to see if she will agree to do some photographs with my daughter when the leaves start changing — I can imagine it looks mighty gorgeous then. I look forward to going on a tour of the place sometime. PS. Parking is free — a welcome surprise.

This was a very enjoyable tour of an interesting home. It is perfectly preserved with original furnishings and it’s just a fascinating glimpse of bygone era. Our tour guide (I believe her name was Margaret) was great! You’d be lucky to have her lead your tour. Out of the three guides we had that day at the various sites, she was the best.
Make sure you take some time to visit the Italian gardens and stroll around the grounds. The views of the Hudson are gorgeous.

We came here on 4÷5÷13 for the 10am tour with expectations of a dry lecture and quick tour of the «cottage.» What we got instead was a 90 minute chat with Mike Autenrieth, a terrific park ranger who was clearly happy to be there. He was funny, knowledgeable, and made the place come alive. What we like are tours that put the subject into context and give us a sense of time and history. That’s both easy and tough with something like the Vanderbilt Mansion. It’s easy to explain the history part, but the Vanderbilts existed in an orbit pretty much all to themselves. Mike did a great job of explaining how they fit into their time, but also were outside it as well, forging a path as «new money» in the Golden Age.
The house itself is worth a visit on its own merits. While not as enormous as The Breakers or the other Newport houses, it is nonetheless opulent, elegant, and over-​the-​top in its own way. The grounds are also lovely and worth a stroll.

We were on a short time frame of only a couple of days in the Hudson River Valley (HRV) and decided to visit this Vanderbilt Mansion rather than spend additional time at the FDR site and/​or visit Valkill Our three star rating here is a function of us finding this less enjoyable for the time spent than the other historical sites we took in at the Hudson River Valley.
Maybe part of our less than four star rating is because we also were holding as comparison our visit to the Vanderbilt mansions in Newport and Asheville. Not fair to do, perhaps, but the mind does what the mind does.
Views at this location are spectacular though so even if one does not go into the mansion for tour, the setting is beautiful. And you can drive from the parking lot on an access road (bypass the exit to do this) down to a small parking area right at the river where there are a couple of picnic tables to boot.
But if you’re needing to prioritize time for all the many wonderful things to see in the HRV, this is a site we’d say should be on the «B list».
A TIP: One of the best lists of historical things to see in the HRV was posted by Unilocaler Lana G (and hubby Roger). We recommend their tips to others who are organizing limited time to see historic sites in the HRV. You can find their list here:

And also see their perspective on the Vanderbilt site at this Unilocal link:

Had we heeded their three star review, we would have made a choice other than this site.