Culture + Lifestyle

Step Inside Great American Country Houses

Plan a visit to the nation’s finest historic country homes

By Colleen Egan

May 1, 2014

Photo: Gavin Ashworth
1/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-01.jpg
The Elms, in Newport, Rhode Island, was the summer home of coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind and his wife, Herminie. The couple hired architect Horace Trumbauer in 1898 to build a home modeled after the mid-18th-century Château d’Asnières in France; it was completed in 1901 for a reported cost of $1.4 million.* newportmansions.org/explore/the-elms*
Photo: David Dash
2/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-02.jpg
Beloved author Edith Wharton’s Lenox, Massachusetts, home, the Mount, is based on the principles of The Decoration of Houses, the 1897 book she coauthored with architect Ogden Codman Jr. Wharton wrote The House of Mirth at the Mount, which is among the five percent of National Historic Landmarks dedicated to women.edithwharton.org/

Photo: Courtesy of Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
3/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-03.jpg
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founder Frank “F. A.” Seiberling, his wife, Gertrude, and their family moved into Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron, Ohio, on Christmas Day 1915. Seiberling sealed deals with business associates in the 64,500-square-foot Tudor Revival over brandy and cigars, and the family entertained guests with performances by celebrities such as Will Rogers and Shirley Temple.stanhywet.org/
Photo: Courtesy of Hildene
4/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-04.jpg
Hildene was built as the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only son of president Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, to survive to adulthood. The 24-room Georgian Revival mansion in Manchester, Vermont, was completed in 1905.hildene.org

Photo: Mick Hales
5/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-05.jpg
Kykuit, a six-story stone house in Sleepy Hollow, New York, was home to four generations of the Rockefeller family, beginning with Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller. The estate’s gardens feature governor Nelson A. Rockefeller’s noted collection of 20th-century sculpture, which includes works by Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder.hudsonvalley.org/historic-sites/kykuit
Photo: Amy Mintonye
6/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-06.jpg
The French Renaissance–style Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon, was built as a private home for The Oregonian publisher Henry Pittock and his wife, Georgiana, who was active in community organizations dedicated to helping women and children. The couple died within five years of moving into the house in 1914; it was opened to the public in 1965.pittockmansion.org

Photo: Courtesy of Cairnwood Estate
7/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-07.jpg
Thomas Hastings, who became a go-to designer of country houses for Gilded Age businessmen, created the Beaux Arts–style __Cairnwood Estate__in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, for the Pitcairn family. From the time of its 1895 dedication, it was also used for entertaining and hosting church, school, and community events.cairnwood.org
Photo: Gavin Ashworth
8/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-10.jpg
Cornelius Vanderbilt II commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt in 1893 to design and build the Breakers, a grand 70-room Italian Renaissance–style palazzo in Newport, Rhode Island, that was inspired by the 16th-century palaces of Genoa and Turin.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breakers

Photo: John Rozell/Courtesy of OPRHP
9/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-09.jpg
Mills Mansion in Staatsburg, New York, was built as a 25-room Greek Revival home in 1832. When it was inherited by Ruth Livingston Mills, she and her husband, financier and philanthropist Ogden Mills, commissioned a remodel and expansion that transformed it into a 65-room, 14-bathroom Beaux Arts mansion, which was completed in 1896.millsmansion.org
Photo: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons
10/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-08.jpg
Shipping merchant Theodore Lyman commissioned architect Samuel McIntire in 1793 to design and build the Lyman Estate, also known as the Vale, a Federal-style country house in Waltham, Massachusetts, that became the summer home to four generations of his family.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/lyman-estate

Photo: Courtesy of Lyndhurst
11/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-11.jpg
Lyndhurst, a Gothic Revival mansion in Tarrytown, New York, was designed in 1838 by Alexander Jackson Davis. Its notable former owners include New York City mayor William Paulding, merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould.lyndhurst.org
Photo: Ian Dagnall/Alamy
12/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-12.jpg
Henry Flagler built Whitehall, a 75-room, 100,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, as a wedding present for his wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, in 1902. After Mary Lily’s death, her niece sold Whitehall to investors, who added an 11-story tower with more than 250 bedrooms and converted it into a hotel, which operated from 1925 to 1959.flaglermuseum.us

Photo: Saxon Holt
13/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-14.jpg
Filoli was built as the Woodside, California, country home of William Bowers Bourn and his wife, Agnes, who owned a gold mine and a water company. Bourn came up with the name by combining the first two letters of the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.”filoli.org
Photo: Courtesy of Historic New England
14/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-13.jpg
The Gothic Revival–style__ Roseland Cottage__ was built in 1846 as the summer home of businessman Henry Bowen, his wife, Lucy, and their young family. The Woodstock, Connecticut, house includes an aviary, a carriage barn, an icehouse, and the nation’s oldest surviving indoor bowling alley.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/roseland-cottage

Photo: Courtesy of Historic New England
15/15
dam-images-travel-2015-great-estates-great-american-country-houses-15.jpg
Beauport was built in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1907 as the summer home of one of America’s first professional interior designers, Henry Davis Sleeper. After Sleeper’s death, Charles McCann and his wife, Helena Woolworth McCann, purchased Beauport (also known as the Sleeper-McCann House) and kept the home mostly intact.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/Beauport

Exploretravel News historic design ad

celebrities

Touring the ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Set With Joshua Jackson

Today AD joins Joshua Jackson and production designer, Jamie Walker McCall, to tour the set of Ryan Murphy’s ‘Doctor Odyssey’. Bringing The Odyssey cruise ship to life was no mean feat–from a fully functioning pool on the leisure deck to the most stylish infirmary a doctor could ask for, this set creates a luxurious backdrop for all the show’s medical drama.

interiors

Interior Designer Answers Your Top Design Questions

Today, AD100 designer David Netto joins Architectural Digest to answer your burning interior design questions. What color combinations should you avoid? Should you hang your TV over the fireplace? Netto shares his expertise to help solve any interior design problems you may face. Special thanks to EllsworthKellyFoundation and Gemini G.E.L. LLC

celebrities

Inside Kendall Jenner’s Home at Christmas

Today, AD is welcomed back by Kendall Jenner to tour her LA home while it’s decorated for Christmas. Over the years, the Kardashian-Jenner clan has become known for their flamboyant Christmas decorations but Kendall’s approach to holiday decorating is much more traditional. With the help of florist to the stars, Jeff Leatham, green garlands, a classic tree, and vintage decorations lace the halls of her home creating a nostalgic atmosphere. Much of this nostalgia stems from decorations from Kendall’s childhood handed down from her mom Kris–most notably her collection of Christopher Radko tree ornaments. “Growing up with [those ornaments] every year, they became so special to me,” she says. “And I can’t wait to share that with my kids one day, but I love sharing this with my friends. I love entertaining, I love hosting, and so these decorations get used really well.” 2024 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

architecture

How an Architect Fit 4 Rooms Into a 74-Square-Foot Studio

Today, AD joins architect Beatriz Ramo (STAR strategies + architecture) in Rotterdam to tour The Cabanon, a space that claims to be the biggest smallest apartment in the world. When Beatriz and her husband, Bernd Upmeyer (BOARD), discovered that a tiny 74-square-foot storage room had become available in their apartment building, they knew it was the start of their next design project. The couple envisioned fitting a whole apartment comprising four rooms into the tiny space. Through the construction of an ingenious wooden insert the couple managed to fit a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen/living space, and even a spa into such a tiny space–compartments fold out when needed and slot perfectly back into place when the resident’s activity changes.

architecture

Why Prefab Architecture Could Be the Future – But Probably Won’t Be

Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects returns to AD to discuss prefab architecture and why it could be the future of housing–but probably won’t be. Prefabricated architecture has always posed a more affordable and sustainable future for housing as they’re fast and cheaper to build and produce less waste in the long run, so why hasn’t it taken over? Wyetzner delves into the history of prefab and why it failed to take off how many architects have hoped it would. ASSETS J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute