A couple of years ago, my husband, Tom Claus and I spent three fantastic days in Asheville, NC, home to the Biltmore House. The place is awesome. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States. The 250-room mansion features 33 family and guest bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, an indoor swimming pool with electric underwater lights and a bowling alley. We took an architectural tour and got to see behind the scenes.
A cozy room at the Biltmore
George W. Vanderbilt III knew what he was doing. His inheritance was less than his siblings, but he managed well. He called in the prominent New York architect, Richard Morris Hunt, who had previously designed houses for various Vanderbilt family members, to design the house in the Chateauesque style, using several Loire Valley French Renaissance architecture chateaux, including the Chateau de Blois as models. The house has similar features as France’s Chateau Chambord. He closely copied the staircase of the Chateau de Blois. The estate includes its own village, today named Biltmore Village, and a church in town, known today as the “Cathedral of All Souls.”
Christmas entry Hall
The collections at the house are priceless furnishings and artworks. The house is equipped with every convenience from elevators to refrigerators. The surrounding grounds, designed by prominent landscape architect, who also designed New York’s Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted, are impressive, encompassing 125,000 acres of forests, farms and a dairy, a 250-acre wooded park, five pleasure gardens and 30 miles of macadamized roadways.
Biltmore House was his country home, a respite away from city life, and a place for his mother when she visited the hot springs in the area. It became an American icon. Unfortunately, after his death and the passing of his wife, Edith Vanderbilt, it became run down, like other historic sites. Developers offered to buy 12,000 acres to build subdivisions. But George’s great-grandson, William A. V. Cecil, Jr. thought not. By the 1950’s Cecil had started a restoration project. The treasure was to remain with the Vanderbilt family.
Jan Aertsen van der Bilt had emigrated to this country from Holland around 1650. They prospered as farmers on Staten Island, New York and lived modestly. It was only during the lifetime of Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) that the family name became synonymous with extraordinary wealth. It was especially important to me to visit this architectural wonder, not only architecturally, but to follow the trek of the Vanderbilt family. My affiliation with the 1867 Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, CT connects me to the Vanderbilt name through the business relationship of Cornelius (aka as the Commander) and LeGrand Lockwood, same as the mansion mentioned above.
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Nice piece, Gail! It’s incredible to think that, like the Lockwood Mansion in Norwalk, anything other than full restoration was considered for the Biltmore. These are architectural treasures and should continue to exist as such.
Thanks Scott. We loved being there. I hope you have the opportunity to go one of the times you are visiting Asheville. We will go back for sure. But next time, I would like to visit the town. You probably can tell me about the town. It has its own magic doesn’t it?
Gail, I am incredibly jealous!! I’ve always wanted to visit Biltmore House. I have friends and co-workers who live in the area (or within a few hours drive) and I always pester them to find out if they have ever been there. I have been to the Breakers in Newport RI so I imagine that it would be similar only on a MUCH grander scale!
Casey, I really missed everyone. It is so good to be back and seeing all your blogs. You are all so amazing.
The breakers ARE different, but the same. The same in its grandeur. But the setting is different. The breakers is waterfront, and doesn’t have farm land or a winery. The Biltmore has those and more. It is in the mountains, it has ponds, and lagoons, and waterfalls. You must visit. You will feel like one of the guests if you stay at the Inn at Biltmore.
The crowds visiting the house are overwhelming, but you can take a private tour. We took the architectural tour, of course, but even that one had around 12 people and it only goes behind the scene, not in depth in the interior. I need to go back and hook up with a real docent. They didn’t even have a book on the furnishings and the audio tour says nothing that really interested me. I wanted all those details. Some of the attendants had some information, and they understood what I wanted, but since the book that all the info was inis no longer available they winged it with me. They told me to look online for that book, but it doesn’t seem to be around. There was one impressive painting of George’s mother by Sargent. I really enjoyed the furnishings and details. They do talk about the tapestries because they are in your face. I will write about this fairytale again next week.
What a gorgeous place! I’m definitely putting this on my to visit list. I love castles!
It does look like a castle doesn’t it. They call it the Biltmore House. Some house.
Oh Gerri, you haven’t seen anything. I will post more photos next week with more fairytale. The grounds are spectacular, designed by Olmsted, designer of central park. He a Calvert Vaux did a splendid job of that one.
Gail, it’s beautiful. I have to put this on my list of places to visit now.
Oh, how I love this place! I feel like I am in a fairy tale when I visit. 🙂 Thanks for the memories! Did you get to take their wine tour and tasting?
Are you serious? Of course we did their wine tasting. ummm, brought some home. Limited Release “Christmas at Biltmore” white wine. Yummy. You can spend the evening getting sassed on samples. We didn’t take the tour though. We’ll just have to go back. We had their vanilla ice cream. Oh boy, that was so good. the food is amazing. When were you there?