The Breakers Post 2 Contiued

The Breakers was a home that had many workers. There were butlers and in the butler Pantry was the Vanderbilt's fine china and food. The fine china in the Butler's Pantry was locked in a safe every night. The safe was a steel box with a metal lock.

The room after the pantry was the long and gigantic dining room. Every chair was at least one ton and needed a footman to push them in. The chandeliers were all electric lighting, but if the power failed, then the light switch to gas. Cornelius Vanderbilt designed it so that they will always have light. The gas will light up through the round , transparent , glass balls. The dining room reminds me of the Italian Renaissance or French style designs. It reminds me of Louis the XIV palace in Versailles.

The next room on the tour was the Billiard Room. The Billiard Room is faced from floor to ceiling of matching slabs of grey blue marble and matching alabaster arches. There's a pool table and designs of different animals. Can you locate the turtle?
The turtle is the little animal painted on the ceiling. It is the little animal crawling towards the woman's feet.

Richard Morris Hunt designed this home and lived his life in Newport. He was a French Art Student, but he was from America. He was the well known American Architect for his design of the Statue of Liberty. He was the architect of the 5th avenue facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Hunt died in 1895 and was buried in the Common burying ground and Island cemetery in Newport , Rhode Island.

Next stop is the ballroom, the ballroom was the room for the wealthy family's invited guest parties. The ladies would slide down the stairs without tripping because of the low distance between each step. The ceiling has many unique designs including three acorns. The acorns represent the Vanderbilt family. One represents fortune, and another means wealth. The last one means long living. The ballroom held many parties and three orchestras played here at once. There's a piano at the ballroom.

The next room is the music room.The music room was an extremely important room. This
was the place where Gertude Vanderbilt played her music for the world to hear. The piano is next to the window. From the window, you could see the sea. The Breakers was the Summer's social capital during the Guilded Age. They were able to afford this because they did not have to pay Income Tax. So they kept everything that they earned, but when Income Tax was introduced to the nation, the wealthy could not afford to stay at the mansions. The summer's social capital had music to enjoy, parties to enjoy, and a comfort summer retreat. Gertude Vanderbilt recalls,"I remember my mother would left me practice everyday."

The servants and staffs working at the mansion were mainly immigrants coming to America. The mansion opened around the same time as Ellis Island. The staffs were not to be seen in the mansion by the family. Only the butlers, footmans, and male staffers may be seen. The female staffers are forbidden to be seen. The children of the staffers could stay in the mansion and play. However, they must not touch anything and cannot be seen by the family.

One of those children remembers it as a very large and fun place to be in. Although there were many rooms, "I remember every summer that I come here was an exciting moment because very few children could come and play in the mansions. "

Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom was very plain because he only lived in it for one summer, but Mrs. Vanderbilt's room was decorated in Louis the 16th style. Her room was later occupied ny her daughter, Countless Laszlo Szecenyi. Mrs. Vanderbilt had a dressing room and a closet that had a hidden section. The door merged well with the wall. The doors back then were all cut out from the walls because the staffers did not want to disrupt the family while working. Mrs. Vanderbilt had her own dressing room and indoor bathroom. Mrs. Vanderbilt and the other ladies during the Guilded Age would wear different clothes during different hours of the day. The staff would wash tons of laundry everyday.