The Gilded Age premiers tonight! A ten-year wait, but BTS kept Gilded Age busy for a decade.

Breakers, a Vanderbilt "cottage" in Newport, will be featured in The Gilded Age

Breaker's news alert! The Gilded Age is finally here!

The long-awaited series (certainly by BTS!) premieres tonight on HBO. Written by Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes, this show is a bit of a prequel to the Cora and Robert Crawley story (Lady and Lord Grantham).  Downton Abbey enthusiasts know that Cora is an American and it was her family's money that helped keep the aristocratic country house afloat. But, what was the backstory? The Gilded Age will give some perspective. 

Breakers front entranc

Husband, Chris, strolls the Breakers hallways

The Gilded Age is set in late 19th century New York, where "old money" rules. Families like the Astors, kept elite society to a select few (the often quoted "400").  The nouveau riche, like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, were seen as upstarts and their attempts to penetrate the exclusive New York society was difficult. However, some calculating "vulgarians" found a way through.

But, what took so long for The Gilded Age series to air?

Back in 2012, it was announced that Julian Fellowes, was working on The Gilded Age for NBC.  Per the New York Times (The Gilded Age Finally Arrives at HBO), Fellowes was, at that time, immersed in the sweeping success of Downton Abbey and there followed a "drawn out development process". NBC did proclaim the series would air in 2019, but, then, it suddenly moved to HBO. The cost and scope of a period drama proved to find a better home on cable than broadcast. And, now, the day has come. 

Chateau-sur-Mer, one of the older mansions in Newport

However, we at BTS did not sit idle and Gilded-Age-deprived for the past decade.

Prior to 2012, I'd visited some of the homes of the era (The Breakers, The Biltmore), but not so much as a mission than as a tourist.

After, 2012, however, I hit the gilded ground running. In the past decade, I've returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to revisit The Breakers as well as Marble House (both Vanderbilt "cottages"), Rosecliff, The Elms, and, the slightly older mansion, Chateau-sur-Mer, all of which will be featured in The Gilded Age.

The Elms, designed to look as though run by magic

One of the staff's rooms at The Elms

In 2015, my daughter, Rachel, and I, visited another Vanderbilt mansion in Hyde Park. This was a stone's throw from the family home of Franklin Roosevelt and, touring both these homes was truly a tale of two worlds: old money, with its traditional understated furnishings and new money, with over-the-top, palatial rooms and decor.

Gilded Age House party at Biltmore

Biltmore dining room

I also returned to the Biltmore in 2019 specifically to see their "Gilded Age House Party" exhibit. Here, fashions and tales of entertaining were displayed throughout the Vanderbilt home in Asheville, North Carolina.

Stairs at Ferncliff

Ferncliff cottage in Newport

In addition, I traveled to Jekyll Island, a Gilded Age resort/hunting club, in Georgia and Flagler College in St. Augustine, which was once one of the first swanky hotels in Florida. (Flagler was a partner of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil business). 

Blenheim in 2018

Vanderbilt money restored state rooms at Blenheim

But, probably, my most extreme Gilded-Aged themed trips was in 2018, with a stop in Woodstock, England, to see Blenheim Palace. This was the ancestral home of a financially needy English Duke who married a rich American young lady (and, yes, her last name was Vanderbilt) to help keep the country estate afloat. 

A tale as old as 'Downton Abbey". 

What to watch for.

• Actress Christine Baranski 's Agnes van Rhijn, looks to be a delightful blend of fictional Violet Crawley (Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey) and the real-life arbiter of 19th century high society, Caroline Astor.  She'll have her position challenged by Carrie Coon's character, Bertha Russell, based on Alva Vanderbilt.
• Plot lines that explore more dimension to characters beyond the establishment and the wannabes. 
• As noted in the Detroit Free Press this weekend - Two Detroit natives play employees of the wealthy: Douglass Sills plays the Russel's French chef and the housekeeper, Mrs. Bruce, is Celia Keenan Bolger, who won a Tony in 2019 for her portrayal of Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird".
• Late 19th century Manhattan, filmed on location - but in upstate New York.

Marble House, Vanderbilt home

Interior or Marble House, made of . . .marble!

Are we done with Gilded Age obsession?

We've only just begun! We've got Gilded Age programs already inked in the calendar as well as travels planned. As we've noted before, this is our Gild-y pleasure, so stay tuned!