Gilded Mansions: Grand Architecture and High Society

Gilded Mansions: Grand Architecture and High Society by Craven, Wayne. Hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780393067545.

A lavishly illustrated history of the opulent art and architecture of the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age (1865–1918) saw the sudden rise of Americas first High Society, including such prominent families as the Astors, Whitneys, and Vanderbilts. As an aristocracy based on fortunes recently acquired, these families endeavored to live like Europes blue-blooded nobility, shedding Puritan restraint as they joyously flaunted their new wealth―especially where their homes were concerned. They erected French chateaus and Italian palazzos on New Yorks Fifth Avenue, at Newport, and elsewhere, often taking inspiration from Parisian styles of the Second Empire. They rejected more modest American styles just as they rejected middle-class society, and for interior decoration they turned to such artisans as Tiffany, Herter Brothers, and Allards of Paris. Immensely readable and illuminated with 250 stunning color and black-and-white illustrations, this is the fascinating story of Americas first millionaire society, the way they lived and partied, and the lush artistic and cultural legacy they established. 100 color, 150 black-and-white