"The Poor Little Rich Girl"

Gloria Vanderbilt Piece

It is a beautiful day. The air is warm and a mild breeze kisses my face. There are a few scattered clouds that hang idly in the crystal clear sky, where the sun is shining brightly yet playfully dances in between the tree branches. There it is. Towering above me. The huge stone mansion that seems to endlessly reach into the heavens, a tremendous sight that seems intimidating but gentle all at the same time. The mansion now offers tours to groups of eager tourists who wonder what it must be like to be that wealthy. The Vanderbilt Mansion, a place that many stare at, awe-struck, a place that could be defined as anything but a humble abode.
The Vanderbilt Mansion was home to the famous Gloria Laura Vanderbilt, born in February, 1924 to parents Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt and Gloria Laura Mercedes Vanderbilt. Tragedy struck the Vanderbilt family when Mr. Vanderbilt died from a throat infection causing internal hemorrhages. Gloria was left without a father and as an heiress to her father’s incredible fortune all at the ripe old age of one. In addition to being fatherless and affluent at that early age, Gloria also found herself in the middle of a nasty custody battle between her mother and her aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney who deemed Mrs. Vanderbilt an unfit mother. Gloria’s aunt won the custody battle making her the child’s custodian.
After many years and three marriages, Gloria married Wyatt Emory Cooper and had two sons, Carter and Anderson Cooper who later became CNN commentator and head of Anderson Cooper 360. In 1979, Murjani Corporation marketed “Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans” which propelled Gloria into the fashion industry becoming a noted icon. Ms. Vanderbilt was also a renowned author, painter, and actress.
I lag behind my exploration partner (who is always up for a historical journey), to take a picture of this beautiful and mind-numbing National Historic Site. The shutter clicks and the technological benefit of instant gratification enables me to see clearly the ridges in the columns that are aging well; the cracks not too visible. I feel as though I am there with the men who must have worked tirelessly on what could very well be considered an architectural masterpiece. I imagine Gloria standing next to me as a young girl and then as a young woman, happy to call this place home. I am jarred back to reality by my modern-day Lewis calling me to admire the scenery from a different angle. As I walk to where she is, I turn back and gasp at the regal beauty that emanates from this gigantic structure. I reach my friend and she points to the Hudson River, a naturally beautiful spectacle. I gaze out over the cliff to the water below and I acknowledge that not only are my surroundings breathtaking but hosts to history as well.
The Vanderbilt Mansion was completed in 1839, in Hyde Park, New York, home to other historical greats, Franklin D. Roosevelt being one of them. The mansion costing Mr. Vanderbilt $27,000 was the only house in Hyde Park that had electricity, relying on a hydroelectric power plant to function. Mr. Vanderbilt could have fancied himself an exceptional gardener; the lavish, Italian-style gardens being proof of his immense green thumb. Large, formal gardens were common fixtures of most estates during that time. Unfortunately, after his death, the gardens were no longer well kept. The flowers wilted and died and the life that once thrived within the garden was no longer apparent.
Today, the Vanderbilt Mansion has been affirmed as a National Historic Site and allows visitors to bask in its greatness; the mansion looking just as majestic as when it was first erected. The gardens have been revitalized by the F.W. Vanderbilt Garden Association and are looked upon with reverence by masses of people each day.
I have exhausted my poor camera, but it is ever faithful to me, still recording the jaw-dropping sites I have been fortunate to witness. I just cannot get enough of the Hudson River flowing peacefully below, the great weeping willow to my left, that if given the chance, could tell great stories of past family gatherings underneath its gentle branches, or the moderately sized guest house ahead of me that reflects the sun’s smiles. My eyes finally rest on the mansion, looming in front of me, so tall that I feel dizzy if I stare at it too long. Its large windows, glossy oak doors and the strong, sturdy columns that support the mansion are demonstrative of the family that frequented its hallways and that made history; a realization that helps a young woman ready to embark on her life’s journey prepare to create her own history. I walk away smiling…

“Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, there you long to return.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

Sources:
www.biography.com
www.biographybase.com
www.nps.gov
www.time.com
www.vanderbiltgarden.org