She Built The Breakers. Then She Buried Her Husband and 4 of Her 7 Children: Alice Vanderbilt

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cvs0yj... On August 14, 1895, The Breakers opened in Newport with more than 300 guests for Gertrude Vanderbilt's debut, in a 70-room palace her parents had built to replace the wooden house that burned in 1892. Eleven months later, her brother Cornelius III walked out of the family to marry Grace Wilson, and on July 14, 1896 their father was struck down by a cerebral hemorrhage. His will, signed on June 18, 1896, cut the eldest son to $500,000 and the income of a $1 million trust, out of an estate appraised at $72,999,867. His widow, Alice Vanderbilt, got $250,000 a year and the use of two palaces she would never own. By 1925 she had buried her husband and four of her seven children. What does a mother hold on to when the house outlives the family? Subscribe to the channel: @velvetsociety-s7l In this video, we talk about the life of Alice Claypoole Gwynne Vanderbilt, including her Cincinnati girlhood and the Sunday school where she met Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the death of her first daughter, 1 West 57th Street and the "Electric Light" gown at Alva's 1883 ball, the $70 million inheritance and the wooden Breakers, Bill's death at Yale and Vanderbilt Hall, the 1892 fire and the two safes of jewels, Richard Morris Hunt's fireproof palace, Gertrude's debut, the marrying Wilsons, the 1896 will, the stroke and the two weddings of August 1896, "I think that I am dying", Alfred's divorce scandal and the Lusitania, Gladys and Count Széchenyi, Reggie and the pearls, the sale of 1 West 57th Street, the reconciliation with Neily, her 1928 will, and the dollar-a-year lease that opened The Breakers to the public. 🔔 Subscribe for more of the women who ran the great Gilded Age houses, told from their side of the room. 💬 Comment where you're watching from and tell me: was Alice right to hold her ground against Grace Wilson, or did her rules cost her a son? 📢 Share this with anyone who loves Newport, the Vanderbilts or The Breakers, on Facebook, Reddit or in your group chats. You're the reason these stories keep getting told. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 08:25 A Sunday School at Saint Bartholomew's 21:59 Not to Be Outdone on Fifth Avenue 35:23 Seventy Million Dollars and a Wooden House 51:00 The Night the Wooden Breakers Burned 1:06:30 Three Hundred Guests on Ochre Point 1:21:18 Against Mister Vanderbilt's Wish 1:35:43 Two Weddings in One August 1:49:27 The Measure of a Father's Disapproval 2:03:37 Eighteen Minutes off the Irish Coast 2:18:08 The Gates Went to Central Park 2:32:11 A Dollar a Year and the Third Floor Sources: Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_C... Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneli... Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vanderbilt, Cornelius (Wikisource): https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Applet... The Breakers history, Preservation Society of Newport County: https://www.newportmansions.org/mansi... The Vanderbilt Ball, Museum of the City of New York: https://www.mcny.org/story/vanderbilt... Alfred Vanderbilt, The Lusitania Resource: https://www.rmslusitania.info/people/... Time, "Historical Notes: Quality" (1953): https://time.com/archive/6885530/hist... DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #VelvetSociety #AliceVanderbilt #TheBreakers #Vanderbilt #VanderbiltFamily #CorneliusVanderbilt #GertrudeVanderbiltWhitney #GraceWilson #AlfredVanderbilt #Lusitania #ReginaldVanderbilt #GladysVanderbilt #RichardMorrisHunt #Newport #NewportMansions #FifthAvenue #GildedAge #History #Documentary #AmericanHistory #WomensHistory