Charles M. Schwab started life in a modest family home and ended life in a small New York City apartment, insolvent. Along the way he acquired four splendid mansions, two of them were spectacular.

In 1862, Charles Michael Schwab was born in Williamsburg, Pa., to John Anthony Schwab and Pauline (Farabaugh). In 1865, his parents moved to Loretto, Pa., where Schwab attended Saint Francis College but left after two years to find work in Pittsburgh. He began his career as a stake-driver in the engineering corps of the Edgar Thompson Steel Works and Furnaces in Braddock, Pa. He quickly rose through the ranks of Andrew Carnegie's steel complex and at only 35 years of age, became president of the Carnegie Steel Company.

In 1901, after forming the U.S. Steel Corporation from the former Carnegie Steel, Schwab became the first president of the U.S. Steel Corporation. In 1903, because of clashes with U.S. Steel executives J. P. Morgan and Elbert Gary, Schwab left to run the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Schwab succeeded in making Bethlehem Steel the second largest steel producer in the world. He gambled and risked everything to build a large, modern plant in Bethlehem. By mass-producing the wideflange steel beam, Bethlehem Steel made it possible to build skyscrapers and changed the way buildings were erected.

Braddock

Schwab was fearless in his decisions about his homes as well as business. In 1890, he built a 22-room brick mansion in North Braddock, Pa. It had an arched stone porch, clay tennis courts, green houses and a carriage house. Inside the house, the front hall was paneled in carved oak. A grand staircase led to large stained glass windows. Most rooms had a marble or brick fireplace. The library was lined with leaded glass bookcases. The 10 servants lived on the third floor. Schwab and his wife, Emma Eurana Dinkey, only lived in the home for a few years. They sold it to Carnegie Land Corporation to be used for future Carnegie Steel superintendents. The house still stands today and is privately owned.

New York City

In 1914, Schwab purchased the block bounded by 73rd and 74th streets, West End Avenue and Riverside Drive for $865,000. It was the former site of the New York Orphan Asylum. At the time, he was president of United States Steel Corporation. By the time his new mansion was built for $2,500,000, he would be president of Bethlehem Steel. He would continue to lavish over $8,000,000 on decorations and furnishings for the home. It took six years to build the 75-room "Riverside" mansion with more than 100 artisans employed. It was the most ambitious private house ever to be built in New York City.

Fortified by steel, the exterior materials were brick, cream-colored granite and limestone. Schwab hired the French architect Maurice Hebert to designed a French Renaissance chateau set in its own landscaped park. The Riverside Drive facade was based on that of Chenonceaux, a royal castle in France. Unable to pay property taxes of $60,000 a year on "Riverside" during the 1930s, Schwab moved into a small apartment at 209 Park Ave. where he died in 1939. The mansion was raised in 1948.

Bethlehem

When Schwab arrived in Bethlehem in 1903 to create the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, he purchased Garrett B. Linderman's three-story home on west Third Street in Fountain Hill. Linderman was the general manager of the Bethlehem Iron Company and built the mansion in 1870. He lived there until his death in 1885. Schwab immediately contracted with A. W. Leh, architect, and spent $500,000 to modernize the home. He added a glass-domed flower conservatory with stamped copper moldings and a large bay window. Schwab called this 27- room mansion the "little house." This house still stands today but has been altered to create apartments.

Loretto

In 1914, Schwab built a 44-room Indiana limestone mansion on 1,000 acres in Loretto called "Immergrün" (German for "evergreen"). The estate featured opulent gardens, a nine-hole golf course on 133-acres, swimming pools, fountains and stables. The fruit and vegetables grown in the orchards and gardens were under the direction of Mrs. Schwab.

Running the estate required 100 gardeners and 15 servants. A waterworks (facsimile of an English fortress) and reservoir on the property served not only the estate but the town of Loretto. The chicken coops were replicas of French cottages. Deep in the forest was an open-air theater for plays. On a 66-acre site, a French village was recreated with cottages and shops but no people. Three years after Schwab's death in 1939, St. Francis College bought the mansion and guesthouse for $32,500 at auction. Today the mansion is used as Mount Assisi Friary on the grounds of Saint Francis University.