Read a bio on the Vanderbilt family recently. The 3rd and 4th generation pissed it away in grand style on the big houses that just ate money. From what I read about the Vanderbilt who built the Biltmore House in Asheville, yes he built a huge mansion, but he was well liked by the local people providing jobs and Christmas for children, and built a church in town that still exists. Not much of an intellectual; he preferred the outdoors to reading, IMHO.