Florham, Baroque Revival mansion in Madison, US.

Florham is a red brick mansion with stone trim, built between 1893 and 1899 for Florence Vanderbilt and Hamilton Twombly and now part of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Its central block rises three storeys above a stepped stone base, with six stone columns across the facade, a balustraded parapet and a carved cartouche at its centre. Wings with stone quoins extend to either side.

The renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead & White designed this mansion in 1899 for Florence Vanderbilt and Hamilton Twombly. It was built during the peak of American industrial wealth, when the ultra-rich competed through grand residential architecture.

The name is a portmanteau of Florence and Hamilton, the first names of the couple who built the estate. The family belonged to Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, and its boychoir sang at the estate each year, where it was given a Christmas feast served by full wait-staff. Tiffany windows dedicated to Alice Twombly, a daughter who died in 1896 at 16, remain in that church.

The estate now functions as part of Fairleigh Dickinson University and is open to visitors through guided tours. Plan to spend time looking at the interior details, and check in advance for tour availability before you arrive.

Thomas Edison, whose early electrical projects Twombly and J.P. Morgan backed, personally designed the mansion's heating system and boiler, installed in a tunnel system beneath the house. Chairs from Florham later entered the White House collection and have sat in the Oval Office under George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.