MYSTERY PHOTO: This antebellum house is famous. Can you tell us why?

Today’s mystery is an antebellum house, somewhat famous. Try to pinpoint its location, then send your answer to ebrack2@gmail.com, and tell us your hometown.

Pat Bruschini of Peachtree Corners recognized the last Mystery Photo, telling us it was “the Vanderbilt Mansion along the Hudson River in Hyde Park, N.Y. I was just there on a Road Scholar trip in October 2024.”  Unfortunately, we have lost who sent in this photo.

Others recognizing it included Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; George Graf, Palmyra, Va,; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; and the reliable Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, who wrote: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Vanderbilt Mansion, a striking remnant of America’s Gilded Age, located on a 211-acre estate beside the Hudson River in Hyde Park, N.Y. Built between 1896 and 1899 for Frederick William Vanderbilt (1856 – 1938), a shrewd investor and philanthropist, this 54-room Beaux-Arts masterpiece was a statement of opulence, innovation, and power. But it has a strangely eerie history, as well as a recent, unsolved mystery which contributes to an enigmatic aura surrounding the Vanderbilts. 

“One tragic tale dates back to 1900, when a young cook, just weeks into her job, mistook an elevator shaft for a pantry door and fell to her death. Since then, staff and visitors have reported flickering lights, unexplained footsteps, and an odd energy near the old dumbwaiter—fostering legends that the mansion may be haunted.

“More recently, on December 6, 2024, a hiker discovered the body of a 69 year old woman lying face down near the eastern shore of the Hudson River, within the grounds of the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. After about a month, authorities were able to identify the woman. Despite the identification, however, the circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear, and the investigation is ongoing, adding a modern mystery to the property’s already storied past.”

• SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO:  If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but  make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)  Click here to send an email  and please mark it as a photo submission.  Thanks.