Madam C.J. Walker is known as a Black hair-care pioneer and the nation's first woman self-made millionaire, but her mansion on the Hudson River is a fascinating peek into her lifestyle.

The Armour-Stiner Octagon House is a fairytale mansion just 18 miles north of Manhattan. Frozen in time to the early 1870s, it was designed as a summer and weekend escape from New York. The residence, ...