The Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, located in Hyde Park, New York, is a premier example of the country palaces built by wealthy industrialists during the Gilded Age. It was built by Frederick Vanderbilt (1856-1938), who was the frugal grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Frederick Vanderbilt was the only one of his siblings to increase his inheritance (from $10 million to $76 million). He almost got disinherited, though, when he married his wife Louise Holmes Vanderbilt, because she was a divorcée and 12 years older than him. After inheriting the $10 million from his father, William Henry, Frederick built this smaller country palace for $2 million. His brothers used their inheritances to build the more lavish Marble House and Breakers in Newport and the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina. While smaller, the Hyde Park Vanderbilt mansion is spectacular. The site includes 211 acres on the east bank of the Hudson River, with views of the river and the distant Catskill Mountains, formal gardens and natural woodlands. The 54-room mansion was designed and built between 1896-1899. The house is a perfect example of the Beaux-Arts architectural style. The interiors of the mansion are archetypes of the American Renaissance, incorporating European antiques and finely crafted period reproductions. A niece, Margaret "Daisy" Van Alen, inherited the property when Frederick Vanderbilt died in 1938. Encouraged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Van Alen donated a portion of the estate, including the residence with most of its original furnishings, to the National Park Service. It is said that she received $100 for the transaction (and a big tax write off)!