Terry wanted to see some mansions while we were on vacation. Our first stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York. When we entered the visitors center, we found out a guided tour was $14. Terry then found out that there was a much more opulent mansion just up the road built by the Vanderbilts. Terry wanted to go inside for the tour, so I decided I would use that time to do a sketch of the exterior. I searched desperately for a shady tree with a view.The mansion is a small place that the Vanderbilts only lived in for six weeks out of the year. The mansion has a grand view of the Hudson River Valley. As Terry's tour group approached the mansion, the park ranger who was leading the tour waved to me and asked, "Are you an artist?" I sighed and shouted back, with some annoyance, "Yes." It turns out Terry had put him up to asking this one question, which I cannot tolerate or stand. She got me again!
Terry said that the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC has more bathrooms than this mansion has rooms. She claimed that staff were well paid, and that when Frederick Vanderbilt died, they were paid in the will. Terry and I walked the property when she came out from the tour. I was amazed that there was a constant stream of tourists crowding into the building. We walked a quarter mile or so to the gardens. Roses were in bloom along with a colorful assortment of wild flowers.
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