Inside Eagle's Nest, a Vanderbilt Mansion Near NYC: Photos

Can you hear “The Last Great American Dynasty” playing in the distance?

There are many historical mansions on Long Island, but only one was once owned by the legendary Vanderbilt family. The 42-acre estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II, which included his summer “cottage” of Eagle’s Nest, is now a museum that’s open to the public.

Eagle’s Nest was first built in 1910 as a small cottage, but as William II spent more time there, it expanded until 1936, when a full redesign was finished; it had become a 24-room Spanish Revival mansion.

William II spent time at Eagle’s Nest until his death in 1944. His will stipulated that, upon the death of his wife Rosamund, the estate would be left to Suffolk County and would become a museum, which it did after her death in 1947.

The Vanderbilts are one of the best-known (and richest) families in American history — so much so that Bertha Russell, the main character on HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” is based on Alva Vanderbilt, William II’s mother. In fact, a major plot line in season three is based on William II’s sister, Consuelo Vanderbilt, marrying the Duke of Marlborough in 1895.

So, as a new fan of “The Gilded Age,” I knew I had to check out Eagle’s Nest — even if Larry Russell isn’t really based on William II, I still needed to see the real mansion that his character might live in.

The museum is open every day except Monday and Thursday, and tours of the mansion are offered on Sunday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. Tickets for the museum range from $8 to $14, depending on age, while a guided tour of the mansion is an additional $8.

Here’s what it was like to set foot in the home of a Vanderbilt.

On the North Shore of Long Island, about 40 miles outside New York City, lies the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum.

map of the vanderbilt — The museum on a map.

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Inside the grounds are hiking trails, gardens, and a gift shop.

vanderbilt sign — A sign on the property.

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There’s also the Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium, which holds multiple shows daily.

vanderbilt planetarium — The planetarium.

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The biggest attraction, though, is Eagle’s Nest, the 24-room mansion of William K. Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt.

vanderbilt house and driveway — The front of Eagle’s Nest.

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Before I toured the home, I visited the museum grounds.

walkway to planetarium — A pathway that led to the Rose Garden.

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At the entrance stood a pair of stone eagles, which were taken from Grand Central Terminal. Cornelius Vanderbilt himself commissioned the train station.

statues from original grand central — These statues were once at Grand Central.

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One of the first things I did was head toward the Rose Garden; sadly, most of the roses had already bloomed.

garden wall vanderbilt — The Rose Garden.

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But the landscaping was still immaculate.

fountain at vanderbilt — The Rose Garden.

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Even if the roses were already gone, the views of the Long Island Sound were worth it.

viewfinder vanderbilt — The view from the Rose Garden.

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Then it was time to head over to Eagle’s Nest.

walkway to the vanderbilt mansion — There were plenty of paths that led to Eagle’s Nest.

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Eagle’s Nest was originally built in 1910 as a small cottage. It expanded over the next three decades to become this Spanish Revival-style mansion.

courtyard vanderbilt — A view from inside the courtyard.

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The courtyard was set up for Shakespeare readings, which happen throughout the summer.

vanderbilt courtyard — The courtyard.

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One side of the mansion is a natural history museum.

entrance vanderbilt — The museum entrance.

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The other side is preserved to be just as the Vanderbilts left it in the early 1900s.

vanderbilt entrance — The entrance to the living quarters.

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This was unlike any other historical mansion I’ve seen on Long Island, which are usually modeled on medieval castles or Tudor mansions.

vanderbilt exterior — Eagle’s Nest.

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These cobblestones were taken from the streets of Greenwich Village in Manhattan before the streets were paved over.

vanderbilt stone floor — These cobblestones came from NYC.

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Upon entering the home, the first thing you see is the staircase. It was imported from a Belgian castle.

belgian staircase at vanderbilt — The entryway and staircase.

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There are portraits of William II’s family in the entryway. This is his father, William Kissam Vanderbilt. He ran an arena you may have heard of: Madison Square Garden.

william kisssam vanderbilt — William K. Vanderbilt.

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Pictured top right is William II’s mother, Alva Vanderbilt. She inspired Carrie Coon’s character, Bertha Russell, on “The Gilded Age.”

portrait of alva vanderbilt — Portraits of William K. Vanderbilt II and Alva Vanderbilt.

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The first room I saw was the dining room.

dining room at vanderbilt — The dining room.

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The ceiling is constructed from Florida cedar, or Southern Red cedar.

ceiling in dining room at vanderbilt — The ceiling in the dining room.

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In the corner is a beautifully crafted fireplace. The floor tiles were imported from Portugal.

fireplace in dining room at vanderbilt — The fireplace.

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Next to the formal dining room is the butler’s kitchen. At the height of William II’s entertaining, 36 servants worked at Eagle’s Nest.

butler's pantry — The butler’s kitchen.

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With a view as great as Eagle’s Nest’s, of course there’s a screened-in veranda.

porch room vanderbilt — One of the porches.

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Off the veranda is the Portuguese sitting room, named for the ornate fireplace imported from Portugal. It was constructed in 1494.

lounge room vanderbilt — A sitting room.

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Here’s one of the guest rooms open for display. Each guest room had its own closet and bathroom.

guest room vanderbilt — A guest room.

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Then, it was time to go upstairs and view the rest of the mansion.

staircase upstairs vanderbilt — The staircase leading to upstairs.

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One upstairs sitting room was almost entirely covered in dark wood. It also housed a giant organ.

family room vanderbilt — The study.

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A portrait of William II’s sister Consuelo can be seen in this room, in the bottom left. She coined the term “heir and a spare,” which she used to refer to her sons with her first husband.

upstairs family room vanderbilt — The study.

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She was married to Charles Spencer-Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough. If their marriage didn’t produce children, his title would’ve gone to his first cousin, Winston Churchill.

guest room vanderbilt room — Another guest room.

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Here’s one of the guest bathrooms at Eagle’s Nest. Note the marbled walls and tub.

guest bathroom vanderbilt — A guest bathroom.

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In addition to loving the sea, William II was an avid race-car driver, naturalist, and golfer.

william vanderbilt room — Another view of William’s bedroom.

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His bed, seen here, was a to-scale replica of the bed of Napoleon Bonaparte.

guest room at vanderbilt — William’s bed.

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These buttons, right by his bed, were connected to the servant’s staircase. He could summon his butler, and lock or unlock the servants’ stairwell.

call buttons in william vanderbilt room — This system was complex for the 1930s.

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In his bathroom, nods to his love of the water included a large ship on the floor. He also had a shower, which was somewhat unusual for the time.

william vanderbilt bathroom — William’s bathroom.

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To get to his wife’s quarters, I had to pass through the breakfast room.

hallway from william room to rosamund vanderbilt — The breakfast room.

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Like the rest of the home, it had a lovely view of the water.

breakfast room vanderbilt — The view from the breakfast room.

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William II had two wives — this is how the bedroom looked when it was occupied by his second wife, Rosamond Lancaster Warburton.

wife's bedroom vanderbilt — Rosamund’s bedroom.

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This is her changing room and bathroom.

mrs vanderbilt bathroom — Rosamund’s bathroom.

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Rosamund’s tub is made of rose marble — a nod from William II to his nickname for his wife.

mrs vanderbilt rose marble tub — Rosamund’s tub.

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As I left the living quarters, I reached one of the entrances to the museum. This room is dedicated to William II’s son, William K. Vanderbilt III.

vanderbilt son sign — This room was dedicated to William’s only son, who died in his 20s.

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Inside were specimens collected by William II’s son on a 1931 trip to Africa.

vanderbilt museum — See the crocodile in the bottom left?

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The scenes reminded me of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which made sense — the same designer and taxidermist, William Belanske, did both.

museum in vanderbilt — One of the exhibits.

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This is a portrait of William III during a safari in 1931. He died two years later in a car crash at 26.

painting of young vanderbilt — William III on his trip.

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While it was time to exit this wing, there was still the rest of the museum to see.

staircase in vanderbilt — The staircase.

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The other half of the mansion is filled with specimens the elder William collected on his trips around the world.

model of the alva at vanderbilt museum — William II traveled around the world on his yacht.

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There’s also a miniature replica of his yacht, Alva. During World War II, he donated it to the US Navy, and it was renamed the USS Plymouth. It was sunk by U-boats in 1943.

alva model at the vanderbilt museum — Ironically, the ship was both created and destroyed by Germans.

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There are multiple rooms that are filled with sea creatures. William II himself discovered multiple species during his travels.

museum room — There are multiple rooms like this.

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Down a final set of stairs was a basement filled with more relics from William II’s life.

basement stuff vanderbilt — A piece of the Alva.

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There were also two of his cars parked and awaiting a driver (and probably a tune-up).

cars in vanderbilt — His two cars.

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As I exited the home and crossed the courtyard, I was surprised to learn that there was even more to see.

entrance to other side of vanderbilt — A hallway.

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I followed a sign for even more “habitats.”

habitat sign — The museum continued.

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I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a giant whale shark hanging from the ceiling.

one of the rooms inside the museum of natural history — This is reminiscent of the blue whale hanging from the ceiling at the American Museum of Natural History.

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Another room was dedicated to large predators. It had a taxidermied lion and a tiger, but my favorite was the polar bear.

polar bear vanderbilt — The polar bear.

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The exit brought me to the back of the house. I decided to go back to the central courtyard to see if I had missed anything.

back of house vanderbilt — The side of the mansion.

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And I had! There was a small doorway that led to Eagle’s Nest’s backyard.

entrance to backyard — The way to the backyard.

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The house was set on a hill, so the yard was multi-level.

the backyard — The backyard.

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First, I walked to the right.

backyard vanderbilt — The right side of the house.

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There was a large reflecting pool.

Then I walked to the left and came across another fountain and some well-manicured hedges.

more fountains vanderbilt — The fountain and hedges.

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But the main attraction was, once again, the view.

view from backyard — The Long Island Sound.

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The lawn was open, so I decided to trek down and see what structure at the bottom was.

To my surprise, it was a filled-in saltwater pool.

They’d even left the ladder in.

The pool ladder was left behind.

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There were also changing rooms.

changing rooms pool — Changing rooms.

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With that, I had seen almost everything the Vanderbilt Museum had to offer, with the exception of a few hiking trails.

exterior art vanderbilt house — Another view of Eagle’s Nest.

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I left the museum with a greater understanding of the Vanderbilts — and ready to keep watching “The Gilded Age.”

eagle's nest — Eagle’s Nest.

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