Going Big

If there is one theme for the mature Industrial Era in America, it's simple exuberance. Everything is oversized and amazing. Engineers master the calculations, while a new breed of financiers manages the accounting.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the homes of the truly rich. Wealthy elites have always lived in the finest houses, in the finest neighborhoods, but never before have there been such mansions, festooned to the hilt.

Their owners sit atop great railroad, steel and oil empires that are bigger than anything previously seen in America. This matches the scale of the new cities, hotels and bridges. Everything, it seems, is now gigantic.


	Fit for a King The magnificent Biltmore mansion is completed in 1895, built by an heir to the great Vanderbilt fortune. It remains one of the largest residences ever built in America. The carriage house has room for 20 carriages, providing plenty of space for arriving guests. It supports life in the grand style, rivaling palaces in Europe. It also has electric wiring, installed from the start.



	Going Up Just as the Vanderbilt mansion dwarfs other homes, the Brooklyn Bridge surpasses all structures in sheer size. The main span is three times longer than that of the new bridge crossing the Mississippi, with stone towers that stand twice the height of America's tallest buildings, in Chicago. Fully-rigged sailing ships can pass under the great bridge deck, which is built to accommodate railroad tracks, as well as a roadway and central pedestrian promenade. Note the shipping that crowds the shore in every direction.


	Filthy Rich The Biltmore mansion is an undeniable masterpiece, but it's a relaxed country retreat, far from any city. For real financial warriors, you haven't made it until you build your dream castle on Manhattan. Of the mansions shown here, only the palace at top right is built elsewhere. Financed by a San Francisco railroad fortune, it briefly dominates Nob Hill before the 1906 earthquake reduced it to rubble.