The palace was originally a gift to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, in appreciation for his military service. The appreciation must not have been too strong, as the funding was withdrawn shortly after construction and the completion of the palace ended up taking about 30 years to complete construction. The palace and construction nearly bankrupted the Chruchills and in 1896 in a last ditch effort to save the family fortune, married into the Vanderbilt's for a $2.5 million dowry.
Winston Churchill was born and lived here for a time, and the Vanderbilt Spencer-Churchills still live there. As they were out of town when we visited we got to tour their 'apartments' and see what it was like to live in a palace. They have to open the majority of the palace up to visitors to cover the costs of maintenance etc. There was a stark contrast between the public and private portions of the palace. The public parts were grand and amazing, and the private parts (ha ha) were like the land where time forgot. Lots of nice things, but because the building was so old it seemed to miss the normal comforts which we are used to. And there just seemed to be so much stuff around. I guess when your family has 300 years of history, you have alot to chose from when decorating.
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