LONG ISLAND, NY — East of the bright lights of Manhattan, the Gold Coast of Long Island is the perfect gateway for a trip back in time to The Gilded Age.

An influential period in U.S. history from the 1870s to the 1890s, the era known as The Gilded Age saw America’s rapid industrialization, which led to the establishment of a new A-list of American families including the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers and the Roosevelts.

Writer and humourist Mark Twain coined the phrase The Gilded Age in the 1870s. Now 150 years or so later, The Gilded Age calls to mind not only the award-winning HBO series starring Christine Baranski and Carrie Coon, but also a fascinating collection of elegant mansions and lush gardens in the state of New York.

Several of these incredible properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.  They’re an ideal inspiration for an alluring road or train trip for clients interested in the five-star lifestyles of the 19th century.

Reachable by rental car or the Long Island Rail Road, the Gold Coast reveals many distinguished addresses.

The stately exterior of Lyndhurst Mansion

CASTLES, MANSIONS, GARDENS & MORE

A tour of Old Westbury Gardens, former home of the Phipps Family, reveals Charles II architecture complimented by English furniture, paintings and decorative objects, all surrounding by 200 acres of trees and a charming walled garden.

Old Westbury Gardens is a veritable Hollywood star, serving as a location for everything from Hitchcock’s 1959 film North by Northwest, to Love Story in 1970, and more recently, Gossip Girl.

Oheka Castle, constructed between 1914 and 1919 by architects Delano & Aldrich for financier Otto Kahn, has been updated and expanded into a popular hotel/wedding venue, with landscaping designed by the heralded Olmsted Brothers.

Close by, the beautiful property once known as Eagle’s Nest – when it was the summer stomping grounds of William K. Vanderbilt, great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt – is now the Vanderbilt Museum.

Originally an English cottage, Eagle’s Nest transformed into a 24-room Spanish revival mansion, bursting with priceless European art, furnishings and a natural history museum with dioramas and displays of animals, birds and marine species.

Old Westbury Gardens is adorned with water features

GENERATIONS OF WEALTH & LUXURY

North of New York City is Westchester County, with a trio of Gilded Age destinations along the Hudson River Valley.

Untermyer Park and Gardens is a publicly-funded restoration showcasing lavish flora, trees and mosaics within the walled garden and natural gardens flowing to the shores of the Hudson River.

Meanwhile the serene 67 acres of Lyndhurst Mansion, a Gothic Revival home owned by three different families, is a treasury of English and French furniture, ceramics, art and collectibles. The last resident was Anna Gould, daughter of third owner/railroad tycoon Jay Gould, who resided here briefly every summer (apparently he preferred one of New York City’s most famously luxurious properties, The Plaza).

Nearby is another significant address: Kykuit, built by John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. Four generations of the family filled this stately home with family portraits, lavish furnishings and an outstanding art collection from Chinese Han dynasty porcelain to Matisse, Chagall, Picasso and Calder.

In Dutchess County’s Hyde Park, visitors can tour the Culinary Institute of America, featuring four student-run restaurants including Bocuse Restaurant, named for the famed French chef.

The county is also home to the first American presidential library, the FDR Museum and Library, the archives of the country’s longest-serving president. The grounds include the family home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a rose garden, the final resting place of the president, his wife Eleanor Roosevelt and beloved family dogs.

Staatsburgh State Historic Site is a significant house museum originally constructed by New York Governor Morgan Lewis and inherited by his granddaughter Ruth Livingston Mills and her husband, financier Ogden Mills. The Mills hired McKim Mead and White to expand and remodel the 25-room Greek Revival home into a 65-room Beaux Arts jewel in 1896, where the couple regularly entertained as many as 80 guests among the extensive gilded interiors.

Saratoga Springs is the end of this Gilded Age trail, at one time the most popular American vacation destination, where upper classes came to take the waters.

In its heyday, four hotels, each with almost 1,000 rooms, pampered the wealthy while the Canfield Casino, now the home of the Saratoga Springs History Museum, lured the upper crust to gamble (operating illegally for over 40 years).

Finish a Gilded Age trip with the newest attraction of Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock in New York City: Skylift, an open-air experience allowing a 360-degree view from three storeys above the 70th floor. Skylift opened earlier this month.

Kykuit was home to four generations of Rockefellers

NOTABLE HOTEL ACCOMMODATION

Here’s a look at hotel options on Travelweek’s recent press trip to New York with the New York State Office of Tourism, represented in Canada by Reach Global Marketing …

• The Northport Hotel, Northport Long Island – A one-year old contemporary-styled boutique property with 26 rooms and suites and a stylish restaurant serving timeless American cuisine (https://www.thenorthporthotel.com/)
• The Inn at Bellefield in Hyde Park  (Residence Inn by Marriott) – Opened in January 2024, this 137-room all-suite hotel has a 24-hour fitness centre and includes complimentary breakfast buffet for all guests
• (https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/swfhr-inn-at-bellefield-hyde-park/overview/)
• The New Yorker Hotel by Wyndham, New York City – Famous for its art deco style and excellent midtown location steps from Madison Square Garden (https://www.newyorkerhotel.com/)

For ideas on how to put together a Gilded Age trip to New York for clients, check out https://www.iloveny.com/.