Travel & Culture

Located on the Ohio River and built upon a series of hills, Cincinnati is home to numerous important American corporations, chief among them being Proctor & Gamble. For whatever reason, it's...

In the decades prior to the Civil War, the Mississippi River served as a super-highway for the planters of southern Louisiana, providing transport for goods, services and visitors. Still, a...

Owning a stately home in Britain is not all it's cracked up to be. While a huge, historic house may look impressive, they are huge financial drains on modern owners who may not have the money or...

In 1921, President Woodrow Wilson left office and retired to a large townhouse in Washington. D.C. It was in this house, which was partially paid for through the contributions of friends and...

Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill spent most of his life on the move. Indeed, he was born and died in hotel rooms. But in 1937, he and his third wife Carlotta moved to a...

In 1938, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud fled Vienna with his family after Nazi persecution of Jews in Austria became too severe to bear any longer. He settled in Britain in a comfortable brick...

After the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant was hailed as a hero--in the northern United States, anyway. In gratitude for his services, the people of Galena, Illinois presented Grant with a...

The Lee family played an important part in the early history of the United States, with two of its members signing the Declaration of Independence and one, Robert E. Lee, serving as the commanding...

James Deering was a multi-millionaire bachelor and co-founder of International Harvester Company. When he decided he needed a vacation house, he bought 190 acres in Miami and commissioned a...

Frederick William Vanderbilt was one of the quieter members of his famous family. He didn't garner headlines the way his siblings Cornelius and Willie did. He preferred to spend his time making...

Though Abraham Lincoln was reasonably successful prior to his election as President, he only owned one home in his lifetime--a frame structure in Springfield, Illinois, which he occupied with his...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to a record four terms as President of the United States and led the country through the Great Depression and World War II. He is perhaps best-remembered for...

Harry Truman is usually touted as the prime example of a regular man thrust into great things. Before he entered politics he was an unsuccessful farmer and haberdasher. His political career seemed...

Many American families have had a lot of money, but none had as much fun with it as did the Vanderbilts. In the second half of the nineteenth century their name was a by-word for conspicuous...

For much of the colonial period, Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia, and seven Royal Governors lived in a grand Georgian house called the Governor's Palace. After Virginia became part of the...

Few figures loom larger in Texas history than Sam Houston. He was the victor at the Battle of San Jacinto, President of the Republic of Texas, United States Senator and Governor. He even coined...

All over the world people have mental images of wealthy Texans courtesy of TV shows like "Dallas" and movies like "Giant." But the truth about the real cattle barons and oil tycoons is every bit...

John Shaffer Phipps had it made. His father was a partner of Andrew Carnegie and he himself sat on several corporate boards. He and his sons were well-known polo players. He had home in New York...

Kykuit, the Pocantico Hills, New York country home of billionaire John D. Rockefeller, was originally constructed between 1907 and 1908, but as soon as Rockefeller moved in he discovered numerous...

Frank Lloyd Wright is undoubtedly America's most famous architect, the only one besides Thomas Jefferson who is a household name. Wright married while working as an apprentice to Louis Sullivan...