From Palace to Parking Lot: Frank Goodyear Mansion

[@architypeone8646]

Never ceases to amaze me how shortsighted we were back then to just tear down all of these grand masterpieces....for a parking lot, no less. Houses of this quality and magnitude will never be built again and they are gone forever. Architecture is one of the lasting measures of a society and it's culture. It is a sad commentary on us for being so cavalier with our Architectural heritage. Thanks for keeping their history and memory alive.

[@chucklambooy8457]

Yes very short sighted but in reality, no different than today, as it still happens everywhere

[@megfuchs9425]

It makes me want to cry, even as they do it today. Very disappointing!

[@megfuchs9425]

I LOVE the stairs!! Wish there were more pictures of them. Thanks Ken!

[@debluetailfly]

Dumb to tear down the architectured whether big or small. I was also shortsighted of tycoons to cut ALL the magnificent forests! Every cypress tree in Louisiana was cut. We should at least keep what was cut from those forests and make it last. Today people prefer everything to be vinyl.

[@GrandmaDee]

Makes me want to puke

[@kslinaz5668]

I gasp every time when I hear the word "demolished." The elegance, the artwork, and craftsmanship, using such lovely materials throughout. Makes you want to cry.😢

[@ceasarandrepont1243]

The area went from beautiful homes, to parking lots, how memorable.

[@pmjones13]

It is so very sad how these beautiful houses were torn down 😢

[@FeedScrn]

Much like how they let empty castles in Europe just continue to deteriorate. I don't get it.

[@roncross1945]

I’m so grateful that you have chosen to provide these videos. Thank you. Hopefully we learn from them and improve what is happening now.

[@AmosAmerica]

Shocking! I know the title says Palace to Parking Lot, but to see the aerial view of the parking lot at the end is intense!

[@robertthomson1587]

It's extraordinary how many of these tales seem to end with "X enjoyed living in his newly built mansion for only (insert small number) years".

[@christopherkraft1327]

This was a magnificent mansion with impressive attention to detail!!! What a shame that it was demolished to make room for a parking lot of all things!!! Thanks Ken for sharing another interesting video!!! 👍👍🎄☃️

[@Emily_Paris]

Thank you Ken for another amazing story of a beautiful mansion. I can never get over those big huge windows but then again, it’s a mansion.

[@greeneyedwarlock882]

You’d think by now that all of us historic home lovers would be immune to the literal disgust and heartbreak we feel when we hear about mansion after mansion after mansion being torn down. But NNNNNNNNNOPE!!!🤬🤯🤬🤯🤬🤯🤬‼️‼️

[@tamieckert4548]

...For a parking lot ⁉️If the structures didn’t render too much work, they could’ve made shops,businesses,Hotel, trade school, hospital, or just even held out and either sold it to someone,a parking lot could’ve been put on some other vacant lot.Beautiful expensive architecture shouldn’t go to waste and it probably wouldn’t have been devalued for such a short time vacant. Thanks for showing these art pieces that many men work on to create these splendid places.❤

[@StamperWendy]

Just when you were starting to describe the 2nd house, built after the demolition of the first house, I thought to myself, Betcha this one is gone now, too. SO much beautiful natural acreage is gone, where I live, and most of those resulting parking lots just sit enpty. Such a blight. =(

[@williamtyre523]

Thanks for another great video, sad that the house stood for such a short period of time. Would be great to see a video about the Delaware Avenue mansion of his brother Charles, which I believe is still standing.

[@thegreyhoundgirls536]

What a tragedy that another beautiful unique structure was demolished. These type of structures should be preserved

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

What an incredible masterpiece! The Dining Room was my favorite room, as there are no known pictures of it so I can use my imagination.

[@mileshigh1321]

Maybe dark wood paneling and a coffered ceiling with a big ornate stone or marble fireplace! So tragic the place is gone, so we will never know!

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

@@mileshigh1321 It’s too bad that every mansion doesn’t come with an endowment.

[@Hobotraveler82]

A parking lot. Oh my. Do they not have any shame. Beautiful home though. Thanks for sharing 😊

[@CuriousEarthMan]

Thanks Ken! Great story and pictures!

[@jilledmondson6894]

Beautiful home. Loved the staircase. Where I live in the Chicagoland area lots of old houses are being torn down. In our Old Town area (original town) many early and mid 20th century houses and a church have been torn down BUT I miss the smaller single family homes that were older.

[@toolsteel8482]

Irreplaceable craftsmanship. That was a total downer hearing they tore this house down for a parking lot. And I’d like to say American cities before the advent of the automobile, looked clean and uncluttered . Thanks for sharing.

[@patjac2545]

In front of the staircase, you could see a copy of a magnificent Louis XVI clock by Riesener. The original one is now in Versailles. Devant l'escalier on peut voir la copie d'une pendule régulateur de Riesener dont l'original est à Versailles

[@jamesdugan3079]

Sesquehanna Railroad! Slowly I turned step by step....

[@giusimastro9722]

every time I see a gorgeous home like this one destroyed I cry more I study the history of the American Gilded Age grand mansions more I feel sad

[@annerohrbacker6097]

“For use as a parking lot” is just unbelievable!

[@sherirunnels545]

"Pave paradise, put up a parking lot..." so very sad to lose these works of art.

[@aaronduell9797]

Loved this one. The snapshot of the map when you mentioned them building their own methods of transportation was cool as I’m very familiar with the area.

[@rickwilliamson1417]

What ashame to tear down

[@NewRon2003us]

Thank you for sharing yet wish you could have shown more interior shots !

[@LEPersonal-pf5wz]

I'll be the odd one and say that I liked the exterior of the first mansion than the one that replaced it. the inside was gorgeous!

[@kevinhanson6106]

Fascinating as always, thanks Ken. You pave paradise and put up a parking lot. SMH

[@jamessullivan9992]

Insane ,two beautiful houses destroyed.

[@JosephStJames2000]

A parking lot!

[@bscottb8]

To lose anything by Carrère & Hastings, who rivaled McKim, Mead & White, is tragic.

[@JosephStJames2000]

@@bscottb8 I gasped.

[@jimwiskus8862]

Joni Mitchell was on the right track. I thought between the timber fortune and the last Goodyear that perhaps he had the first grove of rubber trees. Just kidding, made me wonder though if he was part of the Goodyear tire family. See you in the next episode.

[@no-ry8sk]

Imagine how the world's cities would look if we held onto good quality historical heritage in architecture. Of course, there is an argument that these choices are done to "maximise profits off of land" or to just simply spend less. But I believe that in the long run building one place, then to demolish it for another one is just a waste of resources, time and historic heritage. Especially if you're demolishing a beaux arts mansion for a parking lot... Don't get me wrong sometimes there are good examples, like Haussmann's second empire Paris. I just think that for a single building there is so much flexibility in property's usage without it being torn down and replaced.

[@crystalpoole1560]

I always wonder what they do with the marble and the intricate wood work and so on, I mean is it saved or just smashed to bits?

[@michaelcellino9686]

The house was not torn down in order to be replaced by a parking lot . It had been inherited by his son Frank Goodyear Jr who was married to the wealthy Dorothy Knox . They lived in the house until Frank Jr was killed in an auto accident. After her husband's death Dorothy and their children preferred to live in another newer mansion they had built in East Aurora New York a suburb of Buffalo . Since it was the height of the depression she was unable to find a buyer for the house and rather than continue to pay very high real estate taxes on the house she sold off as much of the interior as possible and had the house demolished. Mrs. Clement who lived next door bought the lot to expand her yard. In 1942 Mrs Clement donated her house and property to the American Red Cross. The eventually paved over what had become a large lawn when their need for more parking evolved.

[@vince1638]

If this makes you crazy check out the Smith family Mansion story out of New York. Mindblowing.

[@deeceepnw]

Another glorious home fodder for a Pretenders song.

[@bethbartlett5692]

This was an attractive home, classy and far more modern than his Victorian neighbors. I can imagine the level of mind that bought it to demolish it, and for a Parking Lot, "Genius", the neighborhood must have left for NYC. It was worthy of moving.

[@anteeker]

I liked the one he tore down better than the one he built. Why couldn`t he have found an empty lot to build on instead of destroying another beautiful house?

[@Spicy-y9z]

I bet that house was a freezing mother!

[@kathleenardrey5094]

I liked this saga until he tore down a mansion to build an even bigger one, which sadly became a parking lot. Over-reaching must be the enemy of many a wealthy, hard-working person. The amount of labor from artisans and builders is staggering to me. Thank you; I didn't know about this lumber family!

[@jetsons101]

A parking lot..... Really, "A Parking Lot" That's like taking down the Mona Lisa and putting up a finger painting....

[@tsbrownie]

All these uber-rich have to build a monument to themselves (and egos), only to have it torn down by the next big ego.

[@forlini4876]

Does this Goodyear family have anything to do with the tires?

[@ThisHouse]

Great question! We covered the Goodyear Tire mansion in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enuvppqLn5p9hpYsi=hnOMLRBB1MDGrl4Y

[@jamesslick4790]

I'd rather have the Second Empire house that this displaced. This house looks like an early 20th Century bank. 🤔

[@gandfgandf5826]

Demolished paradise and put up a parking lot.

[@kathleenardrey5094]

"And they're all made of ticky-tack...they paved paradise...."

[@laurenharte324]

Makes me so sad when these beautiful mansions are destroyed, especially for a hideous parking lot 😮

[@LaTericeallover]

Can you maybe cover a house that wasn’t torn down?😢 Why do they keep doing that? Why!

[@DamianJackson-q9z]

Everything turns back to parking lot huh

[@spfernandez1085]

They tore this down for a parking lot.

[@kennixox262]

A lot of these mansions become white elephants and can become far too expensive to maintain or reimagined for other uses besides a parking lot. There are numerous homes in Palm Beach that are torn down after just a few short years. The reason, the ocean front lot is valuable and the new owners what to put their own dream home in its place.

[@sallyjune4109]

Yes, this is what people don't understand, the cost of maintenance. Then too, flaws show up over time that are just too costly to fix.

[@rayn8740]

Because, you know, you can't have enough parking lots.

[@heatherjones6647]

Not by teaching in the US, that's for sure.

[@carcar78]

Why, why, why would the brother sell the property for a parking lot. I’m sure there were other options and the mansion could have become something else that was functional. Apparently also the brother didn’t like the interior or more photos would have been taken. Sad.

[@michaelfisher7170]

Gotta say it. Looneyville! I want to live in Looneyville! At the intersection of Bugs Avenue and Daffy Way! Um...sorry. I'll see myself out.

[@rosepelzel4244]

For a frickin' parking lot??? I guess Joni Mitchell was right!!

[@lovead1430]

A travesty

[@globalheart]

Insane. Why oh why, did ANYONE, allow for that to happen. Yep...you've turned into quite an Art & Architectural Crime Investigator, alright!! Thx..but ooh, the bitter tears..You could start a new TV show.. "AACI" !!!!

[@juliasouthick2232]

A PARKING LOT??????? ARGHHHHHHHH…….

[@reginaldbarnes632]

first the trees. then the houses. The natives must have thought we were insane.

[@josephcummings2892]

A parking lot?????? What? Who was the idiot behind the destruction of this exceptional home?