Giraud Foster facts for kids
Giraud Foster (born November 8, 1850 – died September 22, 1945) was a successful businessman and a well-known person during America's Gilded Age. This was a time in the late 1800s when some people became very rich. Giraud Foster loved playing bridge, riding horses, and sailing. He earned a lot of money from his businesses in coal and shipping.
Giraud Foster married Jean Van Nest in 1893. Both of their families had long histories in New York. They had one son, also named Giraud, who was born in 1904. Everyone called their son "Boy."
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Giraud Foster's Homes
For most of his life, Giraud Foster lived in a beautiful mansion called Bellefontaine. He and his wife built this large house in Lenox, Massachusetts, between 1896 and 1898. They thought of it as a holiday "cottage," even though it was a grand home!
Bellefontaine: A Grand Mansion
Bellefontaine became famous as one of the most impressive mansions of the Gilded Age. A famous New York architecture company, Carrere and Hastings, designed the house. It was built around an inner courtyard in a simple, classic style. The front of the house had a large portico, which is a porch with columns.
Some people say the design was based on the Petit Trianon at Versailles in France. While there are some similar parts, Bellefontaine's front looks more like the Pavilion de Louveciennes. The back of the house also looks a lot like the Chateau de Voisins, another French building.
Winter Retreat in South Carolina
While the Fosters spent their summers at Bellefontaine, they also had a winter home. It was called Orange Grove and was located in Aiken County, South Carolina. Jean Foster passed away there in 1932. Giraud Foster sold the house three years later.
Foster's Social Life and Faith
The Fosters were very important public figures and often hosted large parties. Giraud Foster was a member of several clubs. He belonged to the Knickerbocker Club and was the President of the Mahkeenac Boat Club. He was also part of Canada's Restigouche Salmon Fishing Club. Besides his social life, Foster was a very religious person. He served as a warden at Lenox's Trinity Episcopal Church.
Bellefontaine's Journey After Foster
Giraud Foster died at Bellefontaine in 1945. His estate was worth a lot of money. In 1947, Bellefontaine was sold along with all its furniture and 182 acres of land. Not long after, a fire badly damaged the inside of the house.
The inside was rebuilt, but it didn't look as elegant as it once did. After that, the house was sold again to the Sacred Heart Priests and Brothers. They used the building as a seminary, a school for boys interested in becoming priests. It was called Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary and operated from 1961 to 1978.
The building was sold again to a new owner, but nothing was done with it. Then, in the early 1980s, it was sold once more. The new owners tore down the newer buildings that had been added. They also brought back the beautiful sunken garden that Giraud Foster had loved. The outside of the mansion was fixed up, and the inside was rebuilt again. Today, Bellefontaine is part of Canyon Ranch, which is a fancy health spa.
Images for kids
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Foster's home Bellefontaine in 1912.
