The spectacular Spanish-Revival mansion and museum of William K. Vanderbilt II in Centerport, New York, is one of the few remaining estates on the legendary North Shore of Long Island. The mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a time machine to a rare and privilged way of life along Long Island’s Gold Coast, once held the largest concentration of wealth and power in the United States.
Now the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium, the 43-acre estate is a popular historic, cultural and scientific destination for regional visitors. The newly renovated, state-of-the-art Planetarium–with an advanced Konica Minolta projection system, full-dome video ad surround-sound offers visitors a thrilled immersive experience that takes them to the outer reaches of the Solar System. Event schedule here.
The Vanderbilt includes a Marine Museum, wild-animal habitats and dioramas, and galleries with collections galleries of natural-history specimens and ethnographic aritfacts from Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.
*Covid-19 update: The museum gardens and grounds as well as the first floor of the Hall of Fishes marine museum; the Habitat and Stoll Wing animal dioramas; and the natural-history and cultural-artifact galleries on the first floor of the Memorial Wing are all open. The Mansion living quarters and the Reichert Planetarium remain closed at this time. A limited number of visitors are welcome on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from 12 pm to 5 pm.
Tickets are available online and at the gate. Visitors must wear a mask when unable to maintain 6-feet distancing from others or when indoors. Check the website for special events, including movie nights, estate walks and more.
180 Little Neck Road,
Centerport, New York 11721
Visit: www.vanderbiltmuseum.org/
