In 1905, Frederick Vanderbilt purchased this tract reuniting it to Hyde Park estate grounds as it had been during earlier ownership. Vanderbilt removed numerous buildings from the area, retaining only a Boat House (removed by the National Park Service in 1953).
Sporting architecture was a unique feature of country house life in America. Playhouses, as they were generally known, were an entirely American tradition. The playhouse reflects the enthusiasm for sport in America in the late nineteenth century. These buildings also included living rooms, bedrooms, baths, kitchens, and servant quarters. McKim, Mead and White were the leading architects of such buildings and designed the sporting pavilion for the Vanderbilts at Hyde Park.
A masterpiece of American architecture by one of the nation’s preeminent architects, built for one of the first families of wealth and privilege in the Gilded Age. The classical edifice of the Vanderbilt Mansion surrounded by a verdant park represents a perfect blend of formality and rural gentility.
