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Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. The main residence is the Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately owned house in the United States at 178,926 sq ft (16,622.8 m2) of floor space and 135,280 sq ft (12,568 m2) of living area. It is still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants and remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions.
George Washington Vanderbilt II began to make regular visits with his mother Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt to the Asheville area in the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to build a summer house in the area which he called his "little mountain escape". His older brothers and sisters had built luxurious summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, the Gold Coast of Long Island, and Hyde Park, New York.
Vanderbilt named his estate Biltmore, combining De Bilt (his ancestors' place of origin in the Netherlands) with more, an open, rolling land. He eventually bought 125,000 acres (51,000 ha) composing nearly 700 parcels, including over 50 farms and at least five cemeteries. A portion of the estate was once the community of Shiloh. A spokesman for the estate said that much of the land had been "in very poor condition, and many of the farmers and other landowners were glad to sell."
Construction of the house began in 1889. A woodworking factory and brick kiln were built on site, and a 3-mile (5 km) railroad spur was constructed to bring materials to the building site. Construction on the main house required the labor of about 1,000 workers and 60 stonemasons. Vanderbilt made extensive trips overseas during construction to purchase thousands of furnishings, including tapestries, carpets, prints, linens, and decorative objects dating from the 15th century to the late 19th century. Among the few American-made items were the more practical oak drop-front desk, rocking chairs, walnut grand piano, and bronze candlesticks.
Vanderbilt opened his opulent estate on Christmas Eve of 1895 to family and friends from across the country who were encouraged to enjoy leisure and country pursuits. The Gilded Age mansion reportedly cost $5 million (equivalent to about $189 million today) to construct. Guests to the estate over the years included novelists Edith Wharton and Henry James, ambassadors Joseph Hodges Choate and Larz Anderson, and U.S. presidents. Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in 1898 in Paris, France. Their only child Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt was born at Biltmore in the Louis XV room in 1900 and grew up at the estate.[citation needed]
Vanderbilt initiated the sale of 87,000 acres (350 km2; 35,000 ha) to the federal government, stressed by Congressional passage of income tax and the expensive maintenance of the estate. He died unexpectedly in 1914 of complications from an emergency appendectomy, and his widow completed the sale. She carried out her husband's wish that the land remain pristine and that property become the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest. She then began consolidating her interests, selling Biltmore Estate Industries in 1917 and Biltmore Village in 1921. She intermittently occupied the house, living in an apartment created in the former Bachelors' Wing, until the marriage of her daughter Cornelia to John Francis Amherst Cecil in April 1924. The Cecils had two sons who were born at Biltmore in the same room where their mother was born.[citation needed]
Cornelia and her husband opened Biltmore to the public at the request of the City of Asheville in March 1930, in an attempt to bolster the estate's finances during the Great Depression. The city hoped to revitalize the area with tourism.
Biltmore closed from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. In 1942, 62 paintings and 17 sculptures were moved to the estate by train from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to protect them in the event of an attack on the United States. The Music Room on the first floor was never finished, so it was used for storage until 1944, when the possibility of an attack became more remote. Among the works stored were the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington and works by Rembrandt, Raphael, and Anthony van Dyck. Gallery director David Finley was a friend of Edith Vanderbilt and had stayed at the estate.
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. The main residence is the Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately owned house in the United States at 178,926 sq ft (16,622.8 m2) of floor space and 135,280 sq ft (12,568 m2) of living area. It is still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants and remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions.
George Washington Vanderbilt II began to make regular visits with his mother Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt to the Asheville area in the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to build a summer house in the area which he called his "little mountain escape". His older brothers and sisters had built luxurious summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, the Gold Coast of Long Island, and Hyde Park, New York.
Vanderbilt named his estate Biltmore, combining De Bilt (his ancestors' place of origin in the Netherlands) with more, an open, rolling land. He eventually bought 125,000 acres (51,000 ha) composing nearly 700 parcels, including over 50 farms and at least five cemeteries. A portion of the estate was once the community of Shiloh. A spokesman for the estate said that much of the land had been "in very poor condition, and many of the farmers and other landowners were glad to sell."
Construction of the house began in 1889. A woodworking factory and brick kiln were built on site, and a 3-mile (5 km) railroad spur was constructed to bring materials to the building site. Construction on the main house required the labor of about 1,000 workers and 60 stonemasons. Vanderbilt made extensive trips overseas during construction to purchase thousands of furnishings, including tapestries, carpets, prints, linens, and decorative objects dating from the 15th century to the late 19th century. Among the few American-made items were the more practical oak drop-front desk, rocking chairs, walnut grand piano, and bronze candlesticks.
Vanderbilt opened his opulent estate on Christmas Eve of 1895 to family and friends from across the country who were encouraged to enjoy leisure and country pursuits. The Gilded Age mansion reportedly cost $5 million (equivalent to about $189 million today) to construct. Guests to the estate over the years included novelists Edith Wharton and Henry James, ambassadors Joseph Hodges Choate and Larz Anderson, and U.S. presidents. Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in 1898 in Paris, France. Their only child Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt was born at Biltmore in the Louis XV room in 1900 and grew up at the estate.[citation needed]
Vanderbilt initiated the sale of 87,000 acres (350 km2; 35,000 ha) to the federal government, stressed by Congressional passage of income tax and the expensive maintenance of the estate. He died unexpectedly in 1914 of complications from an emergency appendectomy, and his widow completed the sale. She carried out her husband's wish that the land remain pristine and that property become the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest. She then began consolidating her interests, selling Biltmore Estate Industries in 1917 and Biltmore Village in 1921. She intermittently occupied the house, living in an apartment created in the former Bachelors' Wing, until the marriage of her daughter Cornelia to John Francis Amherst Cecil in April 1924. The Cecils had two sons who were born at Biltmore in the same room where their mother was born.[citation needed]
Cornelia and her husband opened Biltmore to the public at the request of the City of Asheville in March 1930, in an attempt to bolster the estate's finances during the Great Depression. The city hoped to revitalize the area with tourism.
Biltmore closed from 1941 to 1945 during World War II. In 1942, 62 paintings and 17 sculptures were moved to the estate by train from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to protect them in the event of an attack on the United States. The Music Room on the first floor was never finished, so it was used for storage until 1944, when the possibility of an attack became more remote. Among the works stored were the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington and works by Rembrandt, Raphael, and Anthony van Dyck. Gallery director David Finley was a friend of Edith Vanderbilt and had stayed at the estate.
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