The most worthwhile place to visit in Pocantinico Mountain is the Rockefeller Family Manor. Its main building, called Kykuit, was built in 19 13, where four generations of this family once lived. "Kykuit" is Dutch, meaning "overlooking" and "overlooking"-because the manor is located on a hill, which is the highest point nearby and overlooks the Hudson River and the skyline of new york City.
According to paul fussell's Style: Social Class and Life Taste, if the highest social class in the United States is called "invisible top class", the Rockefeller family undoubtedly belongs to the top class. As the richest man in the world, Rockefeller and his son once received almost all the dignitaries in the world at that time in this manor.
Although I have heard a lot of legends about this manor-especially the widely circulated "If God had so much money, God would build such a house"-the feeling of seeing it for the first time can only be described as shock: the maximum area is 3,500 acres, including 75 buildings, 70 private roads, forests, lakes, farms, golf courses, art galleries and museums. In such a world, when you hear the introduction of "this is a gift from him to his wife", it is usually an artificial swan lake or a farm.
As for the internal facilities of the main building, it is more like walking in a living art gallery than visiting a mansion. It is said that the pattern of people's art collection is this: when they see that they have bought too much, they will quickly build a house for these collections ... The lady who showed us around with a bunch of keys in her hand led us through the dazzling rooms and passages. Then remind the other party: "follow closely, or you will lose yourself." This is no joke. Last time I invited a friend to stay in this building for one night. It is said that he got up and ran after five o'clock in the morning, and then got lost between houses.
Some rooms in the mansion reflect very strong China elements, such as porcelain, wood carving door gods, Ming and Qing furniture, curtains painted with dragon patterns, etc ... This shows the family's China complex. But when I walked into an exhibition room dedicated to tapestries, I saw a wall half empty. The staff on the side explained faintly: "Oh, there is a set of Picasso tapestries hanging here, which has just been lent to a museum for an exhibition."
One place that the whole manor deserves careful appreciation is its French neoclassical garden landscape. There are 90 famous sculptures collected by the family in the garden alone-basically, you can meet the rhythm of works by henry moore, aristide mailllol, Louise Nevison, Pablo Picasso and others in a few steps in the garden.
Just like all theme trips related to visiting the former residence, it is not just because of the former residence itself, but to better understand the people who have lived in the former residence and their special historical era. The trip to the Rockefeller family manor implies a dramatic turning point for most people: at first, you are likely to be completely shocked by the jaw-dropping prosperity, and then with the deepening of the explanation and trip, you will realize that the symbol of the family is not just wealth, otherwise it is not essentially different from the local tyrants. In fact, john davison rockefeller has always been simple. He didn't intend to build a luxury manor at all. It was because his former residence was destroyed by a fire that his son urged the construction of a house that better reflected the family style that the manor was laid. As for the large collection of works of art, more are written by grandchildren.
Only with the virtue of generosity can wealth transcend material pleasures and achieve more good deeds. Today, when people mention the Rockefeller family property, the word "donation" appears the most frequently. Even Kykuit and most of the land in the manor were donated to the country. At present, the ownership of Kikuyt belongs to the National Historical Protection Trust, the largest cultural heritage protection organization in the United States, and the words "Rockefeller National Park" are marked on the adjacent land. The private kingdom that once belonged to the invisible top floor can now be seen, and ordinary people can also walk in the garden and bathe in the afternoon sunshine. Interestingly, it is said that the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation is responsible for the daily maintenance and supervision because the maintenance cost of this manor is too high for the country to afford.
Rockefeller Archives Center, not far from the manor, is also worth a visit. Here, we can learn more about the historical context of Rockefeller's commitment to charity in the last 40 years of his life, and his continuous efforts to solve social problems such as environment, health, education and development. At that time, the richest man in the world was recorded in history because he founded modern charity, which was the core of family glory and influence.
William Welles Bosworth, the landscape architect of the Rockefeller family manor, once described the garden like this: "If you want to know it, you must experience it. At night, everything goes without saying. " The word "self-evident" is really meaningful in this place, because it does have different meanings for different tourists: diaosi satisfies the desire to peep at the upper life here; Art lovers can feast their eyes here; Entrepreneurs or rich people from all over the world will re-examine their relationship with wealth here and think more deeply about original sin, family honor, inheritance and other issues.