America's Castles

"Every good party went on until 8 a.m.," recalls one woman, whose debutante party was held at The Breakers, Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt's 70 room, multi-million dollar "cottage" in Newport, R.I. Constructed during the Gilded Age (the period after the Civil War up to about 1880, so christened after a novel by Twain), many of the incredible homes shown in this eye-popping guide for lookie loos harken back to the days when the leisure class engaged in its favorite sport: conspicuous consumption. Instead of a nice 3 bedroom, 2 fireplace home, how about 65?...fireplaces (255 rooms total). That's the Biltmore, America's largest private home. The cameras travel to Henry M. Flagler's "Whitehall" in Florida, robber baron Jay Gould's Gothic inspired "Lyndhurst," and circus impresario John Ringling's "Ca'd'Zan." Some, like William Randolph Hearst's "San Simeon" were built long after the closing of the Gilded Age, but they share the same attention to decadent excess (Hearst's castle has an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool; mine has 2 tubs and a shower). Interviews with curators and historians offer flavorful anecdotes about America's rich royalty of old, while the viewer sees incredible sights (some single rooms shown could easily accommodate a 3-bedroom ranch home with a generous lawn). Affably hosted and narrated by A&E's Jack Perkins, America's Castles is a lovely paean to the greatest architectural achievements in private homes this side of the Atlantic, and is sure to be a popular addition. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)