Plan #3789: Joseph H. Curtis Cottage
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Joseph H. Curtis Cottage (Item #3789)
Location: NE Harbor, ME
Date of Publication: February 26, 1881
Architect:
George Moffette
Condition: VG+
Price (USD): 49.00
Size (inches): 12.75 by 8.75 inches
Details:
Hand-colored Original Plan. Ruthless in business, Cornelius Vanderbilt was said by some to have made few friends in his lifetime but many enemies. In his will, he disowned all his sons except for William, who was as ruthless in business as his father and the only one Cornelius believed capable of maintaining the business empire.
At the time of his death, aged 82, Cornelius Vanderbilt's fortune was estimated at more than US$100 million. He willed US$95 million to son William but "only" US$500,000 to each of his eight daughters. His wife received US$500,000 in cash, their modest New York City home, and 2,000 shares of common stock in New York Central Railroad.
Vanderbilt gave little of his vast fortune to charitable works, leaving the $1 million (the equivalent of $19 million today[citation needed]) he had promised for Vanderbilt University and $50,000 to the Church of the Strangers in New York City. He lived modestly, leaving his descendants to build the Vanderbilt houses that characterize America's Gilded Age.
This picture is extremely hard to find, as the American Architect and Building News not only had a very small circulation during that time, but very few were actually preserved or colored as this has been. It measures 12.75 by 8.75 inches. Has a mat border and foam core backing (not attached to the picture). The whole plan measures approximately 16 by 10.5 inches (with mat border). Finely detailed and beautifully hand-colored. Shrink wrapped.
Plan is in VG+ condition with light browning along the edges.
