Contemplating buying a bigger home or funding a refurbishment of an existing one? This week's lesson from the Gilded Age looks to George Vanderbilt and the unsustainable housing practices of his era for inspiration on what not to do.
If you possess ranked-by-Fortune-magazine money, you want a comfortable home… or two. And you should. But, if you have to spend $70,000 in 1889 dollars or $1.4 million today to build a railroad spur to transport construction supplies to the site, you should probably think twice, no matter how much you’re worth. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Vanderbilt?
Nevertheless, George was the man who built Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina, a strange and sad tale of uber opulence that is beautifully detailed in Greg King’s book, A Season of Splendor. Construction lasted six years, and at its peak cost $900,000 a day. Total cost for the 175,000-square-foot, 255-room mansion with an 800-foot-long façade on 125,000 acres was $6 million then, $120 million now. More than 100 years later, it remains the largest private house in America.
Old George’s experience reflects what many of us less-rich know: Contractors can let you down, no matter how gilded your age or your cage.
For instance, one morning, George learned that despite having spent millions on his manse, the plumbing had broken. He did what any self-respecting Gilded Age home owner would do, he departed for a tiger hunt in India.
According to one account at the time that King cites, George had actually learned that the troubles at Biltmore ran deeper than bad pipes: “The sunken foundation, the cracked marbles, the idle sawmill, the unproductive dairy farm, the expensive forestry school, the unprofitable truck farm, and all the failures that had been pointed out came rushing in on him. He could have stood all of these, but he could not stand this climax: he had spent $10 million on Biltmore, and he could not get a drink of water.”
So you have all of this money – $260 million in today’s dollars when he started the project – but you feel that you should build this immense monument to your wealth. Whether it’s a Gilded Age mansion or a suburban McMansion, it’s not necessarily the best use of your funds.
When George died prematurely from a ruptured appendix in 1914 at the age of 52, his net worth had dwindled to $23 million ($1 million then), all from “having expended his life and his fortune on the great baronial chateau in the wilds of North Carolina.”
Nothing wrong with having your home represent a significant portion of your net worth. But don’t get carried away like Old George did. Sure, it’s now a popular tourist destination, but it didn’t bring him the joy and serenity that a house should give its owner. Ultimately, that’s what makes a house a sustainable home.
Perhaps, Mr. Vanderbilt, you should have named it Biltbetter.
Credit.com's mortgage calculators can help you determine how much house you can afford to buy.
Christopher Johnston has written for American Theatre, Cleveland, Continental, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Editor & Publisher, The Plain Dealer, Progressive Architecture and Urban Design, and Scientific American, among other publications. He is currently writing a biography of Frederick C. Crawford, founding chairman of TRW Inc. As an avocation, he is a playwright and director, and this December, his play APORKALYPSE! will premier at convergence-continuum theatre in Cleveland.
Christopher Johnston A Credit.com contributor, Christopher covers personal finance issues with a real life, human interest angle. He has written for American Theatre, Cleveland, Continental, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Editor & Publisher, Inside Business, The Plain Dealer, Progressive Architecture and Urban Design, among other publications.
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I have bought the book and been reading it. Good thus far….. Make me want to live on the Hudson River in New York….
It is always nice to see all these nice and huge mansions, it just makes you want to want one too
I have been to Newport RI to see all the mansions from the Gilded Age. I think it is this obsession with big and grand houses which cause a lot of overspending by the homeowners in US. People bought houses that were way too big and too expensive, something that they cannot really afford. Then as it turns out, when the economy start to turn downwards, people realize that they cannot pay for it, and either had to go the foreclosure or bankruptcy route. Take this as lesson for yourself, be smart about your money. Gilded age is just that, it is a dream. Don’t make it into your reality unless you can really afford to do so.
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I’ve sold my house and I will be holding the note. A good mortgage calculator will be necessary for my use.
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People bought houses that were way too big and too expensive, something that they cannot really afford.
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Olivia
Debt Advice
That is such a sad story. Instead of enjoying the house you’ve ever dream of, it only brings disappointments.
That’s the reason we should know from the start where we are heading and be sure how to get there to avoid that kind of dissatisfaction.
Cornelius vanderbuilt left a fortune that in 2007 usd was equivalent to 147 billion dollars. Wiki his name. The Estate including land today is worth roughly, 1.4 billion ( home being 300 million ), so honestly, the fact that it was his fathers and grandfathers money, and it was a fraction of their wealth – it didn’t matter if the sawmill was idle.