Lockwood–Mathews Mansion is one of the finest country houses in the architectural style of Napoleon III ever built in the United States. It was built by LeGrand Lockwood, a Railroad Magnate and Treasurer of the New York Stock Exchange. His summer 62-room residence in Norwalk, Connecticut was completed 1868 for an estimated 2 million dollars, an equivalent of $37 million in 2020.
Lockwood's fortune did not last long. Persuaded by stock market manipulators, he invested in gold. When the price of gold suddenly plummeted in 1869, LeGrand lost all his money. To protect creditors of his railroad company, Lockwood took out a loan by mortgaging his estate. He died soon after. His wife continued to pay off the mortgage by selling the mansion's art and furnishings, but was unable to pay one last installment of the mortgage. She lost her residence to a railroad company controlled by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Lockwood's longtime rival.
