By Skip Moskey “Puddingstone” as it looked in 1948, about 20 years after its construction. (Source: Leslie Jones Collection, Boston Public Library, via Digital Commonwealth.) In 1925, in response to a real estate development boom that was then spreading throughout the Boston suburbs in the wake of the nation’s burgeoning economy, Larz Anderson, who had […]

Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC., 1905, designed by the Boston architectural firm of Arthur Little & Herbert Brown. (Photo by Skip Moskey.) Did you know that, like people, buildings have their own “genealogy”? I’m not talking about the style of a house (such as Gothic Revival, Art Deco, or International), nor am […]

Antonio Scali, 1931 The cultural and political connections between Italy and the United States during the Gilded Age emerged as a constant theme in the research for my book, Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age. In the 1890s, Larz served as first secretary and later chargé d’affaires of the American Embassy […]

By Skip Moskey Larz Anderson, ca. 1888. Probably taken around the time of his graduation from Harvard College. (Source: Anderson Collection, Society of the Cincinnati) [For almost three years after his 1888 graduation from Harvard, Larz Anderson (1866-1937) did all that he could to avoid the issue of work and career.  Between the summer of 1888 […]

Art & Architecture, England, France September 30, 2017 skipmoskey By Skip Moskey The Dining Hall at Biltmore. Why did George Washington Vanderbilt want his dining hall to look like this? What influenced his vision? (Photo, Library of Congress) One of the many things that interests me most about the Gilded Age is understanding what factors […]

By Skip Moskey Terrace Garden, Rome by John Elliott. ca. 1897. Oil on canvas. Private Collection. On January 31st, 1896, Larz Anderson, then serving as first secretary of the American Embassy in Rome, wrote to his mother that he had dined the night before at the home of Maud and John Elliott.  There were two other […]

Books, Gardens & Horticulture, Italy August 25, 2017 skipmoskey By Skip Moskey Edith Wharton, ca. 1889 Edith Wharton is known in American cultural history primarily as the author of Gilded Age novels that for a century have captivated and entertained readers.  Her works The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, and Ethan Frome have been adapted as […]

By Skip Moskey Larz Anderson, ca. 1888. Probably taken around the time of his graduation from Harvard College. (Source: Anderson Collection, Society of the Cincinnati) [For almost three years after his 1888 graduation from Harvard, Larz Anderson (1866-1937) did all that he could to avoid the issue of work and career.  Between the summer of 1888 […]

My thanks to everyone who responded so favorably to the first installment of Anderson Architectural Antecedants about the English homes of William Waldorf Astor.   In what I hope will become an ongoing and perhaps weekly feature, today I present Wrest Park in Silsoe, Bedforshire, England.  At the time of the Andersons’ visit in early December 1911, it […]

Click here to order on Amazon. What others are saying about the book:  “This first-ever book on Larz and Isabel Anderson is a good read. The story is told through rich material drawn from the couple’s own letters and diaries, and those of their contemporaries. The weaving together of various sources to create an even […]

The lives and stories of many Gilded Age personalities weave their way in and out of the great narrative of the Andersons’ lives told in my biography of the couple: Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age.  One of the most interesting people I came across while writing the book was John […]

As someone who researches a wide variety of topics related to the intersection of art, architecture, and society during America’s Gilded Age, I have come across something that has confused and perplexed the small community of people who read, write, and think about such things. And that is whether the Bar Harbor “cottage” of George […]

As someone who researches a wide variety of topics related to the intersection of art, architecture, and society during America’s Gilded Age, I have come across something that has confused and perplexed the small community of people who read, write, and think about such things. And that is whether the Bar Harbor “cottage” of George […]

Book Trailer, Publication Updates Click here to order on Amazon. What others are saying about the book:  “This first-ever book on Larz and Isabel Anderson is a good read. The story is told through rich material drawn from the couple’s own letters and diaries, and those of their contemporaries. The weaving together of various sources […]