America's Castles

From New Orleans to Natchez, along the great Mississippi River, enormous fortunes were made from cotton and cane, and southern planters built majestic castles to celebrate their nobility, wealth, and power. America's Castles takes you on an exclusive tour of the great antebellum mansions of the Old South. Go inside John Hampden Randolph's 64-room Nottaway, set on a 7,000 acre sugar plantation, and visit the exquisite Rosalie, built by Peter Little for his 13-year-old bride. Meet the colorful Irish immigrant Frederick Stanton. He became one of the richest men in America and built the five-story Stanton Hall to prove it. And what tour of Natchez would be complete without a look at Dr. Haller Nutt's Longwood, the 100-foot tall octagonal wonder they call "Nutt's Folly"? It's a once-in-a-lifetime grand tour of the Old South's spectacular palaces.

Florida's Grand Estates takes you to those celebrated mansions that transformed the Florida coast from an undesirable swampland to a retreat for the elite. American tycoon Henry Flagler began constructing his lavish Palm Beach estate in the late 19th century. Soon, other tycoons discovered the pleasures of this tropical paradise and began building castles of their own. Visit Flagler's 73-room manor called "the Taj Mahal of North America," and meet Marjorie Merriweather Post who built the extraordinary 118-room Mar-A-Lago. Other film highlights include rare footage of the Ca'd'Zan, home to circus mogul John Ringling. Florida's Grand Estates provides a colorful and engaging look at the back country which emerged as a sophisticated playground for the wealthy.

Long Island estates: Old Westbury; the Guggenheims' Sands Point.

Jay Gould and John Rockefeller were among those who built grand homes in the Hudson River valley at the turn of the century.

Elegant summer retreats in Newport, R.I., include Château sur Mer.

The summer cottages of the Adirondack Mountains are toured, including the Vanderbilt's Sagamore Lodge and the Durant's Camp Pine Knot. Also: J.P. Morgan's former summer home.

Castles in Scotland owned by Americans include the Fyvie Castle; Culzean Castle, visited by Dwight Eisenhower; and Crathes Castle.

A tour of Skibo, the glorious castle of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, where he once entertained writer Rudyard Kipling and King Edward VII.

Examines four of the most recognisable architectural styles in America, focusing on such homes as Gamble House, Pebble Hill and Victoria House.

Destrahan and three other antebellum plantation homes provide insight into the Deep South before and after the Civil War.

Winchester House and Tor House are among California's grandest mansions.

Tours of the great mansions of Washington, D.C., including a castle built by a German beer baron

Tours and histories of three great mansions in San Francisco: the Haas-Lilienthal House, Dunsmuir House and Ralston Hall.

National Cathedral in Washington; Great Cathedral in St. Louis; Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif.

Moerven Park designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe; Belle Meade stud farm; Long Brand in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A tour of homes, including the Philbrook Estate and Huntington Home, built to house rare collections of books, manuscripts and art.

A tour of William Randolph Hearst's home on a hill, San Simeon.

A tour of Texan estates includes the McFadden-Ward House, Bayou Bend and South Fork, the largest and most famous ranch house in the state.

Indianapolis estate of J.K. Lily; Beaux Arts Castle in Elkhart, Ind.; Charles Mayo's estate in Rochester, Minn.

Tours of Mexico's Chapultepec Castle, home to Emperor Maximillian and Empress Charlotte, and Casa de la Bola, home of Antonio Haghenbeck.

Tours of magnificent movie theaters, including the New Amsterdam in New York, the Chinese Theater in Hollywood and the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.

Tours of New England estates, including Hillstead near Farmington, Conn., Naumkead in Stockbridge, Mass., and Lucknow in Moultonborough, N.H.

New York City; the Frick collection; Coe Hall in Long Island; the Bartow-Pell Mansion in the Bronx.

The 103-room Iolani Palace; La Forteleza, built in 1544; Puerto Rico's Serralles Castle.

Salt magnate Joy Morton's Arbor Lodge; Marland Mansion, built for a former Oklahoma governor; Brucemore.

A visit to a 13th-century fortress in Monaco that was transformed into a luxurious royal palace for Prince Rainier and his wife, actress Grace Kelly.

Return to Newport for a tour of some of the most gorgeous and significant private homes ever built. When George Jones started work on Kingscote in 1841, there was no way to know that he was starting a trend that would make Newport the summer resort of America's elite. His exquisite Gothic Revival mansion now houses one of the world's largest private collections of Chinese art. 50 years after Kingscote, Alva Vanderbilt supervised the construction of a magnificent 60-room mansion that has been called \"the pinnacle of the Age of Enlightenment.\" Tour Belcourt and marvel at its treasures, including a gold coronation couch and an extensive collection of armor. And learn the tragic story of Theresa Fair Herman Oelrichs, whose $2.5 million Rosecliff boasted Newport's largest ballroom, where she entertained only imaginary guests after suffering a nervous breakdown in the early 1920s.

Visits to the magnificent homes built in Colorado at the turn of the century, including Redstone Castle, Glen Eyrie and Molly Brown House.

Tours of the great antebellum mansions in Savannah, Ga., including the Owens-Thomas House and Telfair Academy.

Estates built after 1920 include John D. Rockefeller's Kykuit, Henry Ford's Fair Lane and Frank Seiberling's Stan Hywet Hall.

Explores Gilded Age American estates and elite residences heavily inspired by British architecture, culture, and aristocracy.

Homes of American artists; Beauport; Chesterwood; Longfellow House.

Visits to the castles owned by the Astors on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean: Beechwood, Cliveden and Hever Castle.

The men who dominated the auto industry at the turn of the century took their tremendous profits and built splendid estates. Many of these homes are not open to the public, but they are open to America's Castles. Visit Henry Ford's Fair Lane, a mansion whose whimsical style seems at odds with the no-nonsense demeanor of its owner. Go inside the stately mansion built by Ford's only son, Edsel, whose name is forever synonymous with automotive failure. His home, however, is anything but a lemon! In Meadow Brook Hall, heiress Alice Dodge created one of the most stunning of all American homes. An exclusive tour highlights its many remarkable features. And finally, find out how Goodyear founder Frank Sieberling rolled to profits, and see footage of the construction of his English Tudor style villa, Stan Hywet Hall.

It is truly the grandest of all American homes. Built by George Washington Vanderbilt, Biltmore dwarfs all the mansions built by his illustrious forefathers, even the Breakers "cottage" in Newport. America's Castles takes a remarkable top-to-bottom tour of the largest home ever built in America. With its 255 rooms, the Biltmore is a monument to the extravagance and eccentricity of its owner. See footage of its construction, and go behind the scenes with the men and women who work there to learn the secrets of this incredible mansion. Get a privileged tour of rooms that are off-limits to the public, and marvel at the magnificent treasures that Vanderbilt collected. Travel to the gorgeous mountains of Western North Carolina for the definitive look at the ultimate American Castle.

One is a 98-room fantasy abandoned by its owners after a decade. The other a technological marvel years ahead of its time. America's Castles goes north of the border for this privileged, behind-the-scenes tour of Casa Loma and the Parkwood Estate. Henry Pellatt built a fortune in hydroelectricity, and celebrated his wealth with an extravagant walled castle named Casa Loma. Now, the mansion--with its six acres, stables and private hunting lodge--is one of the nation's most popular attractions, hosting over 350,000 visitors annually. The fabulous Parkwood Estate was an appropriate home for the forward-looking industrialist Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin. Built in 1916, the 55-room mansion has a built-in vacuum system, an electric elevator and even a bowling alley! Curators, experts and the people who lived there help tell the rich stories of the Canadian Castles.

Picturesque antebellum and post-Civil War homes of Charleston, S.C., including the Heyward-Washington House and the Nathaniel Russell House.

Visits to the homes of wealthy cattle ranchers, including the enormous King Ranch and the Cherokee Ranch, built in the style of a medieval Scottish castle.

The du Pont family's estates in Delaware include Pierre du Pont's Longwood.

The Craigdarroch Castle in British Columbia; Linden Hall in Pennsylvania; Blithewold in Rhode Island.

Homes of the early presidents, including the estates of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Confederate White House; Arlington House; Hunt-Phelan; Waverly.

Tours of the Southern mansions built by cotton plantation owners, including Swan House, Bishop's Palace, Moody Mansion and Long Vue.

Visits to the mansions of inventor John Hays Hammond, Henry Chapman Mercer and banking wizard Otto Herman Kahn.

Mansions built along the banks of the Hudson River in New York, including Washington Irving's Sunnyside and Frederic Edwin Church's Olana.

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Famous gardens adorn Maymont in Virginia, Filoli in California and Bellingrath in Alabama.

In the colonial era, "palaces" were built at the public expense to house the governors appointed by the Crown. Today, all but four states maintain governor's mansions, and they are among the most impressive and important homes in America. AMERICA'S CASTLES features the halls and grounds of three of the most remarkable of these historic homes in this exclusive look. Go inside the oldest executive residence still in use in America the 1798 colonial that is now the home of Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor and tour the current governor's mansion, modeled after Marie Antoinette's villa near Versailles. Perched on a riverside bluff, the majestic home of the Missouri Governor is considered one of the finest examples of French-Italian architecture in the nation. And get a behind-the-scenes look at Drumthwacket, the 1835 New Jersey mansion that is the only such home not located in its state's capital.

For nearly two centuries, Greenbriar was the ultimate getaway for the rich; the castle of chocolate magnate Milton Hershey.

Visits to the largest beach resort, the Hotel del Coronado; the 235-room Mission Inn; and The Grand, located on Mackinac Island.

Tours of several mansions built by Old West pioneers, including Iowa's Terrace Hill, Colorado's Rosemont and Montana's Moss Mansion.

Isabella Gardner's Fenway Court; Lila Vanderbilt's Shelburne Farms; Marjorie Post's Hillwood.

Frank Lloyd Wright and domestic architecture; Oak Park; Taliesin; Taliesin West.

John Deering's Miami castle, Edward Berwind's Elms and other estates were built by those who profited from the Industrial Revolution.

Mansions of the lumber barons; Victorian on Lake Superior; French chateau in California; Tudor in Wisconsin.

A look at the homes of men who struck it rich in the mining business. Included are the homes of Henry Clay Frick in Pittsburgh, Thomas Kearns in Salt Lake City, and Amasa Campbell in Spokane.

Pittock Mansion; American Swedish Institute; Cranbrook House and Gardens.

Visits to the homes of men who helped turn villages into bustling towns, including Brigham Young's "Beehive House" and Charles Conrad's mansion in Montana.

The estates of Presidents Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren and Rutherford B. Hayes provided private enclaves during their public lives.

Some of America's greatest fortunes were made from the steel and steam of the railroads. And the Railroad Barons celebrated their wealth in stately homes filled with rare woods, inlaid marble and opulent furnishings. From the turreted extravagance of The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion to the private gym where America's first Olympic gold medalist trained, AMERICA'S CASTLES visits these splendid sites. Tour Hildene, home of President Lincoln's son Robert Todd, which boasts a 1,000 pipe Aeolian organ. Marvel at the magnificent art collection of The Hay House, purchased with profits made on the Georgia Central and Macon and Western Railroads. And curators and historians tell the stories of these historic homes--and the fortunes behind them. Brilliant designs, stunning art and captivating stories come together in the mansions of the Railroad Barons.

Inside the lives and homes of Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, two of the 20th century's most influential presidents.

Visits to magnificent mansions that have been donated to colleges, including St. Louis University's Samuel Cupples House.

Forced to marry English royalty, Consuelo Vanderbilt endures a stormy relationship in Blenheim Palace.

The Glessner Home, the Mark Twain House and Thomas Edison's Glenmont represent three unique styles of Victorian architecture.

Chicago: Cuneo; Cantigny; Charles Gates Dawes House.

A look at Florida's magnificent estates including Henry Flagler's Whitehall and Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago.