Um. Yes. Yes, I wanted to see this in person.

So I drove upstate to Irvington, N.Y., which, when the estate was being built, was the richest per capita community in America. There weren't any other black folks there—or they certainly weren't welcome—so Walker paid a "black tax," more than double the going rate, to purchase the land and build the house (cost at the time: approximately $250,000). The estate is named after Walker's daughter, whose name was Lelia Walker Robinson. The first two letters of the three names spell "Lewaro."

The house features a detached carriage house that adds another 4,000 square feet. It has "nine or 10" bathrooms, according to the current owners, who have lived in the mansion for 20 years while they were restoring its grandeur.

Fun fact: The Tuskegee-educated architect of said house was Vertner Woodson Tandy, the first registered black architect in New York state and one of the seven co-founders of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

The house is even more amazing in person than it is in pictures. The images are pretty, but even the best cameras can't capture the beauty and detail the way the naked eye can—certainly not the intricacy of the gold leaf Corinthian columns, the hand-painted ceilings or the stained glass windows, which are breathtaking. By looking only at pictures, you just don't feel the historic weight of the house. Walker and her daughter were avid entertainers, and their guest lists read like a who's who of black history.

A few Interior images:

The parlor: