Virginia Fair Vanderbilt

Born in San Francisco, Virginia Graham Fair (1875-1935) was known throughout her life as “Birdie.” She was the younger daughter of James Graham Fair (1831-1894), an Irish immigrant who had made a fortune mining the Comstock Lode in Nevada in the 1870s. In 1899, Birdie married the young millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878-1944), president of the New York Central Railroad Company, with whom she had three children: Muriel (1902-1982); Consuelo (1903-1994); and William Kissam III (1907-1933). After ten years of marriage, the Vanderbilts separated. Birdie, who continued to use the Vanderbilt name after the divorce was finalized in 1927, began dividing her time between homes in Manhattan, Jericho, Long Island, and her native California. She also established her own horse racing stable, named Fair Stable, which achieved great success: one of her horses, the legendary Sarazen, was awarded the title of U.S. Horse of the Year in 1924 and 1925, and was inducted into the United States’ National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. As a millionaire heiress, Birdie had the means to commission grand buildings. She and her sister Tessie worked together on a few projects, including Rosecliff mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, which was designed by Stanford White after the Grand Trianon in Versailles, and completed in 1902. That same year, the sisters began constructing the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco as a monument to their father. They sold their shares just days before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, but in 1908 Tessie repurchased the property and hotel was eventually completed.