HBO’s The Gilded Age

Glenview, the Museum’s historic home, is featured in Seasons 1 and 2 of HBO’s The Gilded Age, the popular Emmy Award–winning series from Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey.

Tours of Glenview
Travel back in time and experience our magnificently preserved Gilded Age home in person! Explore our six fully restored period rooms on a 45-minute guided tour of 1877 home on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are offered on Wednesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays at 1pm, and Saturdays & Sundays at 1 & 3pm. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.

Purchase tickets for Glenview tours here.

Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy), and Ward McAllister (Nathan Lane). Photograph by Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO.

Overview

The American Gilded Age was a time of sweeping economic transformation, marked by clashes between established norms and emerging new systems, and fortunes gained and lost on an immense scale. Set against this dynamic backdrop, Season 1 of The Gilded Age opens in 1882 as young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City following her father’s death. She joins her thoroughly old-money aunts, Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon), and is quickly drawn into a social feud between her aunts and their new-money neighbors, railroad tycoon George Russell and his ambitious wife, Bertha.

The producers of The Gilded Age sought to authentically capture New York in the 1880s, leading them to the Hudson River Museum and Glenview, our historic home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1877 by financier John Bond Trevor, Glenview exemplifies the trend among late-nineteenth-century businessmen to embrace comfortable living in New York City’s newly accessible suburbs. The home was designed by Charles W. Clinton, the noted architect behind the Seventh Regiment Armory (1880), now widely recognized as the Park Avenue Armory.

In the series, Glenview stands in as the residence of Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy). A legendary figure in New York society, Caroline Webster Schermerhorn—widely known as “the Mrs. Astor”—was the era’s most prominent American socialite and the wife of William Backhouse Astor Jr., a businessman, racehorse breeder, and yachtsman.

“It’s certainly a proud moment for us to share the beautiful craftsmanship and environments of Glenview in such a fine production as The Gilded Age,” said Masha Turchinsky, HRM Director and CEO. “It’s an exciting way for us to reach new audiences and bring stories of the era to life.”

For both Seasons 1 and 2, HBO’s production team spent nearly two weeks on-site at Glenview. As stewards of the estate, Hudson River Museum staff collaborated closely with the team to determine which spaces would be featured, which objects would remain in place, and which would be safely moved to temporary storage. In Season 1, Glenview’s interiors, especially the Ebony Library and Great Hall, appear as Mrs. Astor’s home (Episodes 1, 2, and 9). In Season 2, the Parlor takes center stage (Episode 8).

Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy) in the Library of Glenview. Photograph by Alison Cohen Rosa/HBO.

Featured Rooms

The Ebony Library

The Library is distinguished by its ebonized cabinetry, featuring intricate inlays crafted from carefully cut veneers. This style was influenced by Japanese design and lacquer work, which popularized the polished black ‘ebonized’ furniture, so named for its resemblance to the dark ebony woods. Much of Glenview’s woodwork is the creation of master cabinetmaker Daniel Pabst (American, born Germany, 1826–1910), a renowned figure of the Aesthetic Movement, based in Philadelphia and celebrated for his artistry both then and now.

The Great Hall

Much of the woodwork in the Great Hall and Dining Room was crafted by Daniel Pabst of Philadelphia. Trevor maintained close ties to that city and likely attended the Centennial Exhibition, as did Charles Clinton, Glenview’s architect. The house’s fireplace hardware and heating register grills were purchased at the fair. The Great Hall is also adorned with an English encaustic tile floor by Maw & Co., alongside enchanting Minton fairy tale tiles designed by J. Moyr Smith.

The Parlor

The Parlor was at the forefront of fashion, shaped by British influences from designers such as Charles Eastlake, William Morris, and Bruce Talbert. Reflecting the principles of the Aesthetic Movement, the room was conceived as a cohesive ensemble, with wallpaper, ceiling stencils, textiles, and furnishings creating a rich tapestry of pattern, color, and texture. Notable highlights include Meissen china figure groups and an Italian marble sculpture depicting Faust and Marguerite.

Carolus-Duran. Mrs. William Astor (detail), 1890. Oil on canvas. Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mrs. Astor

Caroline Webster “Lina” Schermerhorn Astor, famously known as “The Mrs. Astor” or simply “Mrs. Astor,” was a celebrated socialite of late nineteenth-century New York. She led “The Four Hundred,” an exclusive group deemed by Ward McAllister (portrayed by Nathan Lane) as “the only 400 people in fashionable New York Society.” As the wife of William Backhouse Astor Jr., Mrs. Astor raised five children, including Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who tragically perished in the Titanic disaster. The Astors resided at 350 Fifth Avenue—where the Empire State Building now stands—before relocating to a mansion at 841 Fifth Avenue and 65th Street.

Renowned as “the gatekeeper of high New York society,” Mrs. Astor had a contentious relationship with the Vanderbilts. It’s speculated that interactions between Mrs. Astor and Bertha Russell in the show are inspired by her real-life tensions with Alva Vanderbilt. Allegedly, Alva Vanderbilt hosted a grand costume ball and excluded Mrs. Astor’s daughter, as Mrs. Astor had not formally acknowledged the Vanderbilt family. This forced Mrs. Astor to recognize the Vanderbilts, ultimately welcoming them into New York’s elite society—a dynamic echoed in the show’s Season 1 finale, with the debut ball of Gladys Russell.