In homes this large, I always find myself wondering just what one would do with all of the space and often wonder just what each of the rooms might have been used for or how often they might have been used. I expect that there is more traffic into the rooms as ‘museum’ attractions than they might ever have seen when the home was actually being used, especially when one considers that the Vanderbilts only used this mansion in the Spring and Fall, choosing to live in their other homes in the Winter and Summer months.
Tech note: There were a number of rooms on the main floor where I was unable to obtain clear images due to the very limited light. The Vanderbilt Mansion and its furnishings are maintained as museum artifacts and, although open to the public for tours, are maintained in low light conditions for preservation purposes. Although this is satisfactory for human eyesight, it made it somewhat more difficult to photograph the interior hand-held without a flash or tripod. Many, probably most, of the shots that appear in this blog were, therefore, taken at ISO 800 and close to wide open at f2.5 to f4.0. I would love to have the opportunity to photograph this wonderful mansion and its furnishings utilizing a tripod but that is not likely to ever happen so I’ll just have to try and remember what all the little nooks and crannies looked like and contained :-).
The ceiling of the main first floor room is open to a skylight high above with an ornate railing/balustrade around the opening.
After some time given to explore the main floor, we headed upstairs via the broad staircase with velvet bannister. As noted earlier, the staircase, although broad and elegant, was neatly tucked away off the corner of the main room virtually out of sight upon first entering through the main entrance.
 
The feel of the velvet banister is certainly something that adds to the experience of walking upstairs and, once there, plenty more rooms to explore.
