We meet Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Morgans boozing it up beyond the three-mile limit during Prohibition.

WSJ: Book Review: Grand Ambition

The Vanderbilts sold the farm in 1986 to a developer, and it quickly went downhill.

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The Vanderbilts, one of the most prestigious families in America, were the sort of social barons that Gatsby longed to emulate.

BBC: The Great Gatsby��s Gold Coast

The Vanderbilts actually had booked passage from Europe on that doomed ship in 1912, but decided to sail earlier on the Olympic, a sister ship.

WSJ: Biltmore Estate | King of the Castles | Masterpiece by Julia M. Klein

Biltmore (a name derived in part from Bildt, the Vanderbilts' Dutch town of origin) has been receiving guests since its completion, and paying ones since 1930.

WSJ: Biltmore Estate | King of the Castles | Masterpiece by Julia M. Klein

The new American wealthy didn't have hundreds of years to build their fancy homes and reputations, yet the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and other wealthy families built houses to last for generations.

CNN: 'Downton' in America: 6 big estates