Biography
Born and raised in Cincinnati, she was the daughter of Abraham Gwynne, a lawyer, and Rachel Flagg. Alice Claypoole Gwynne met the pious Vanderbilt while teaching Sunday school at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church. They married there in 1867. She and her husband had four sons and three daughters.
Alice was responsible for constructing several massive family houses, including the enlargement of 1 West 57th Street, making it the largest private residence to ever be built in an American city. She also played a role in constructing the massive summer "cottage", The Breakers, in Newport, Rhode Island. Her affection to Newport was as such because many of her earliest colonial ancestors were from the city. An early ancestor was Roger Williams, who founded the State of Rhode Island as well as former Rhode Island Governor Samuel Ward. Many Flagg family members are buried in Newport's Island Cemetery.
In 1914, she was responsible for the construction of the Gwynne Building in Cincinnati, Ohio, site of the first shop of Procter & Gamble, later the company's headquarters. Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt died in New York City at the age of 88 in 1934. Gladys Moore Vanderbilt Széchenyi inherited both The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island, and her mother's second New York townhouse located at 1 East 67th Street (the former George J. Gould residence). Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney received the proceeds from the sale of 1 West 57th Street (sold in 1925) totaling $7,000,000 while son Cornelius III received ownership of the Gwynne Building in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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