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Nicole Peterson Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 October 25, 2012

The Vanderbilts and the Trumps Bilt-more than the Rest

Art changes as time goes on; its just that simple. From the Renaissance, to baroque art, to impressionism, to modern, and to postmodern, these are just a few of the wide spread changes in styles of art. Like painting techniques that change through the ages, architecture changes with each new generation. The people who have the greatest effect on these changes whether it is in art or specifically in architecture are usually the people who pay for it, also known as patrons. In an effort to show these changes over time in American architecture, I will be focusing on two main patrons, the Vanderbilt family and the Trump family. I will be comparing how these two families use their architecture to show personal status, to extend their bank accounts, and how the style of American architecture has changed between the times of the two families. In order to rightly compare to families the best place to start would be to give some background on these two very prominent American families. According to American Mansions, The Vanderbilts first made a name for themselves in the early 19th century, Cornelius Vanderbilt who made his money through shipping and through the railroad business. He was a brilliant business man who worked on steamships up until the California Gold Rush (The Breakers). Acknowledging that there was a need for mass transportation on land Vanderbilt started his focus in the railway buissness. Vanderbilt made his fortune over time through both business ventures

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and as he grew older brought his children in to take over the company. By keeping the business within the family, the family was able to earn their fortune and keep it close. Commodore Vanderbilt became the richest man in America and when he died his fortune was passed to his eleven children. The Trumps first made a name for themselves through Fredrick Trump, Donald Trumps father. Fredrick Trump was a son of Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod Trump who came to live in Queens, New York after immigrating from Germany. Fredrick Trump was an entrepreneur in the real-estate business; he specialized in low-income housing and apartments throughout New York. At the end of his life he was worth around $400 million, this fortune was passed down to his children, much like Commodore Vanderbilt passed his fortune down. This inheritance makes up a large part of the fortune that Donald Trump has, and has continued to grow upon. Today the Trumps continue to enhance their fortune through real estate ventures, as well as television shows, and writing various books.

How The Wealthy Show Personal Status The wealthy upper class shows their wealth in many different ways. Status can be shown through wearing nice clothing, driving nice cars, and surrounding yourself with other very wealthy members of society. The practice of showing off large amounts of money by investing it in very large and ornate buildings is not a new practice; according to the Preservation Society of Newport Country, the Vanderbilt Family has been doing it since the late 1800s (Belcourt). The family is still known for having some of the most beautifully designed and constructed pieces of architecture in the country. When you bring up the words and phrases: Wealthy families and Architecture the first thing that people usually think of is the Vanderbilts. Further when you

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Google the two phrases, that is also the first name to appear. Not that this is in anyway surprising; the Vanderbilts are a long line of architecture loving people starting in the 1800s and even today as they strive to preserve their beautiful homes for generations to come. For example William Kissam Vanderbilt gave his wife Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, a beautiful 11 million dollar mansion called the Marble House, for her 39th birthday. A house that she very rarely ever lived in due to the fact that she preferred Belcourt, a Louis XIII style hunting lodge designed by Richard Morris Hunt. At one point in time Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt owned 9 different mansions that she had had built, designed, and decorated (Belcourt). The majority of Vanderbilt homes and business buildings were designed by Richard Morris Hunt and his firm, occasionally the Firm of Whitney and Wetmore would collaborate on projects as well. These two firms however, were typically the only architects on the Vanderbilts service, due to the fact that they shared the Vanderbilts unique taste in design (Richard Morris Hunt Biography) During the time that Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was around, the Vanderbilt family was the richest family in the United States; they made their fortune in steamships and the New York central railroad. Richard Morris Hunt, a name mentioned earlier, designed at least six of the familys residential homes along with several of their business and public buildings (Richard Morris Hunt Biography). An example of his work, other than the very well know Biltmore house built for George Washington Vanderbilt, is a luxurious 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. This home called The Breakers was built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his family (Preservation Society). This beautiful home stands out amongst its neighbors, the Ochre Point Avenue entrance to the Breakers is marked by sculpted iron gates, and the 30-foot high walkway gates are part of a 12foot-high limestone and iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side (The

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Breakers). There isnt a single one of the Vanderbilt homes, that is not brilliantly designed by some of the top Architects in the world, not only exteriors but the interiors as well were designed by the worlds best interior designers. Most of the homes are either currently owned by very wealthy members of society or are being up kept by local preservation societies. There are three remaining homes that were built by the family that still remain in the Vanderbilt familys possession. These properties are considered national historic landmarks, and are owned and operated by the family year round for public tours. These properties include Elm Court Estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont (Elm Court). The popularity of these homes on both the auctioning market as well as for public tours goes to show the magnificence of the buildings themselves. These are some of the most well regarded residential homes in the United States. At the time and still to this day these houses were the best of the best and whoever owned or resided in them were considered the wealthiest and most powerful people of the time. The Vanderbilt family used these houses to proclaim their wealth and status. More recently however with a more modern feel for architecture, Donald Trump, has come into the picture showing off his vast amounts of money through large skyscraper hotels that are beautifully designed and placed in the worlds most high-end places. No two hotels are alike, each renowned for its location and architecture. Here, no detail is overlooked and no expense spared in creating a personalized experience that continually raises the bar on the fivestar luxury travel experience worldwide (Trump). Unlike most other luxury hotels, Trump International, owned by the Trump family, speaks not only of the interior of their hotels but they

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also speak specifically about the exquisite architecture of the buildings as a whole. Not only are the Trumps business buildings exquisite, the family owns a large number of beautiful and rare mansions in very prominent places in the US. Trump just recently sold his 62,000-square-foot beachfront home, in Palm Beach, Florida for around $100 million. The Mansion also known as Mar-a-lago, was commissioned by Marjorie Post in 1924, and was designed by Joseph Urban (Mar-a-lago). The Mansion included: a ballroom, a media room, a wine room, an art gallery, a 4,100-square-foot conservatory, along with two guest houses, and a 48- car garage (Luxury Homes). This kind of a large-scale luxury home, especially in such a well-established wealthy area like Palm Beach, Florida is an obvious display of wealth. Donald Trump is very well aware that one of the things that make for great architecture and notable wealth is the location in which you place your buildings. Whether it is beachfront property in Palm Beach, or the Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina where Biltmore is located, both Trump and Vanderbilt parties were well aware that location is very important to design.

Using Architecture to Make Money As well as using architecture to show status, the Trumps and the Vanderbilts use their handle on high impact architecture to help them to earn a living. The Vanderbilts made their money through Steamships and the New York Central Rail System; it only made sense that they would have to build a train station. Little did they know that that train station would one day become the most famous train station on the east coast, if not in the whole country. Grand Central Terminal, also known as Grand Central Station, is one of the most prominent landmarks in New York still to this day. It was an impressive structure, with an ornate Second Empirestyle faade, and an awesome iron and glass train shed 100 feet high, spanning 15 tracksthen

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one of the largest interior spaces in America (Stern). This quote by John Stern speaks about the impressive nature of the station. The faade, or the exterior wall, is beautifully ornamented and the inside speaks of luxury. The station holds many different restaurants, exclusive clubs, a swimming pool, and ironically enough a tennis court that today is owned and up kept by no other than Donald Trump. I found this out as I wandered the halls and back staircases of Grand Central Station last December. Walking into the station is a breathtaking experience in itself, the walls, the ceilings, the staircases; everything is beautifully ornamented and designed with precision. The station itself is a piece of art. When you enter Vanderbilt hall you are greeted by the Vanderbilts welcome To all those with head heart, and hand, toiled in the construction of this monument to the public service, this is inscribed. This inscription is the Vanderbilts way of welcoming the public and thanking those whom helped to build this great station. This building is a spectacular piece of architecture built for the publics use. Grand Central made the Vanderbilt family a great deal of money but provided luxury during travel to the widespread public. Likewise, the Trumps are also largely apart of the luxury travel business, however in a different way. As I mentioned earlier the Trumps make their money through the hotel industry and other prominent real estate ventures. As of right now the Trumps have nine luxury hotels spread throughout the globe. These are five star hotels built in the most glamorous locations possible. The whole family takes part in this business, Donald Jr. Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, Donald Trumps three adult children, are all business partners in their dads organization. Donald Trump Jr. focuses on the real estate acquisition; Eric Trump focuses more so on marketing and management, while Ivanka Trump heads up the design aspects of the organization (Trump). As a family they have created a line of some of the most popular hotels in the hotel industry. These are the kinds of hotels celebrities go to and rent rooms in. For those of

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you who go to NY in the hopes of seeing a celebrity I have seen 2 there and only have been staying there a few times since May (Lisa R). This is a review of the New York Trump Tower Hotel by one of their guests. In the review Lisa speaks of the great service and incredible luxury that the hotel offers its guests. These hotel rooms go for a rate anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per night. These two families have mastered the concept of providing luxury through state of the art buildings and services, while still making profit. It is this profit that allows them to continue to build and to continue to change the face of American architecture.

Change in Style Throughout the Years When thinking about the change in styles of American architecture from generation to generation, you could ask any modern architect and they would tell you that the use of ornamentation has largely faded in todays modern architecture. This could be the result of the change in the way we educate architects today. Today, architecture students as a whole, do a lot less on site designing and planning. Design is done more so in the studio, focusing on numbers and cost of materials (Boyer). During the Vanderbilt era, the focus was on having the most beautifully ornamented building in town, due to the fact that the technology for skyscrapers wasnt yet around, the popular idea was to decorate the building with complex and beautiful ornamentation through sculpture and stonework. This is why the Vanderbilt buildings have such intricate facades. This is across the board; the Biltmore Estate is covered in complex statues and bronze decoration, as well as Grand Central Terminal, the Breakers, and even the Vanderbilt Mausoleum (Preston). To replicate the complex ornamentation used in the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s, today would cost around three to four times as much as it would have

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back then, this estimation does not include the inflation estimate either, that would be figured after (Belcourt). Not only would cost be a factor, but safety as well. The materials used to construct those buildings could not possibly bare the weight of the towers that modern architects and designers like the Trump organization would call for. To account for the added weight of making buildings taller, construction called for the use of steal beams in place of the formerly used masonry. With the use of sleek and metallic resources like steal and glass, the new style of modern architecture was born. The new taller buildings took up less land, and called for cheaper materials. The sleek appearance of these materials was the rise of the modern style. The new angular forms and sleek edges of the steal quickly took hold. With the birth of the steal beamed skyscraper, the ornamentation style slowly started to fade. Trump Organizations is known for their tall towers of steal beams and sleek walls of glass. Buildings such as these have taken hold in modern architecture and have continued the climb upward, both figuratively and literally. In architecture schools across the country architecture students are teaming up with engineers to create and design the next tallest skyscraper (Boyer). The focus of architecture in America has shifted quite a lot between the times of the Vanderbilts and the time of the Trump Towers. These changes call for a look to the future; the Princeton Review argues that we must learn from what has been done in the past in order to move forward in the future. Science and lessons in construction throughout history will get us to where we want to go. However, does this mean that the beauty of the ornamentation in buildings such as George Washington Vanderbilts Biltmore, are over and never to be brought back again? I hope not, there are many different types of beautiful architecture in the world, and to lose the concept of the architecture of the world in which the Vanderbilts lived in would be a

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great loss to society as a whole. Who knows, maybe as in fashion, trends will come back, till then we move forward, or should I say up, as architects across the globe compete to design and construct the tallest towers. Until writing this paper I had no concept as to how alike the Vanderbilt and the Trump families are. Although styles might change and trends in design will go in and out, there are several things I know for sure: The wealthy use their homes and other real-estate ventures to show off their status and wealth, no matter when they were born. Wealthy families have the power to change the publics view of architecture through the public spaces that they create, whether it is for personal gain or not. And finally, the face of architecture has changed hands from generation to generation and will continue to do so, however the fact that the wealthy will continue to sponsor architecture in the future is not likely to change.

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Works Cited

Boyer, Ernest L. "Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice. A Special Report. The Princeton Review." Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice. A Special Report. California Princeton Fulfillment Services, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.

"The Breakers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012.

"Donald Trump." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Elm Court Hotel and Historic Landmark. "Our History | Elm Court." Our History | Elm Court. Elm Court Preservation, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012.

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Lisa R. "Trump International Hotel and Tower, New York City." Trump International Hotel and Tower (New York City): 375 Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2012.

Luxury Homes. "Donald Trump Sells Palm Beach Estate for $US100 million." Marquette Turner Luxury Homes. Wordpress.com, 16 May 2008. Web. 07 Nov. 2012.

"Mar-A-Lago." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

Preservation Society of Newport County. "Newport Mansions." Newport Mansions. Newport Mansions, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. Preston, Percy, Jr. "The Vanderbilt Mausoleum on Staten Island, New York City." The Magazine Antiques. N.p., Sept. 2005. Web. 20 Sept. 2012.

"Richard Morris Hunt Biography." BookRags. BookRags, 2005. Web. 07 Nov. 2012.

Stern, John. "Grand Central Terminal: A Study in Beauty and Meaning." Grand Central Terminal: A Study in Beauty and Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2012.