Both sisters-in-law liked to display their wealth and influence through architectural builds, both overseeing the construction of multiple family residences. In 1888, William and Alva Vanderbilt started construction on their “summer cottage” in Newport, Rhode Island, called Marble House. The fifty-room mansion was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt in the neoclassical style with large two-story columns adorning the façade. In 1892, when construction was complete, William gifted the house to Alva as a 39^th birthday present, making her the owner of the property. 

Just the following year, in 1893, Cornelius and Alice started construction on their own Newport cottage, with a mansion also designed by Richard Morris Hunt called The Breakers. The previous home on the property had burned down, and Cornelius and Alice were determined to rebuild it not only in splendor, but also to withstand the threat of future fires. The seventy-room mansion has over 130,000 square feet, with a footprint that covers nearly an acre. When the home was completed in 1895, it was the largest and most lavish home in Newport, RI, outshining Alva’s Marble House. Alice Vanderbilt outlived Cornelius by 35 years and was given the living interest of The Breakers in her husband's will, and the duty to bequeath the property to any of the children upon her own death. 

The rivalry between Alice and Alva persisted during their lifetimes. Alva later divorced William and became a prominent suffrage activist after remarrying Oliver Belmont, another Gilded Age socialite and wealthy banker. Alice remained the steady matriarch of Cornelius’s line, overseeing family continuity and legacy, and engaging in philanthropic endeavors. Over decades, the conflict softened into phases of competition and coexistence, but the lasting public image — two powerful women using architecture, balls, and social ritual as instruments of influence — endures as one of the Gilded Age’s most telling family dramas.