Biltmore Estate
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Biltmore House
Location:	Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates:	35°32′22.74″N 82°33′3.42″W / 35.53965, -82.55095Coordinates: 35°32′22.74″N 82°33′3.42″W / 35.53965, -82.55095
Built/Founded:	1888-95
Architect:	Richard Morris Hunt; Frederick Law Olmsted
Architectural style(s):	Renaissance, Other
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1966
NRHP Reference#:	66000586 [1]
Governing body:	Private

Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-inspired chateau near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Asheville is a City in and the County seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Richard Morris Hunt ( October 31 1827 – July 31, 1895) was a preeminent figure in the history of American Architecture. Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Asheville is a City in and the County seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States George Washington Vanderbilt II ( November 14 1862 – March 6 1914) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt It is the largest privately owned home in the United States at 175,000 square feet. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age. This article details the family of Cornelius Vanderbilt For other uses see Vanderbilt (disambiguation. In American history, the Gilded Age refers to major growth in population in the United States and extravagant displays of wealth and excess of America's upper-class during In 2007, it was ranked eighth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. In 2007 the American Institute of Architects asked Harris Interactive to survey 2000 people who were shown 247 photographs of buildings and other structures in different categories The American Institute of Architects (AIA is a professional organization for Architects in the United States.

History

In the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt II, youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt, began to make regular visits with his mother to the Asheville area. In American history, the Gilded Age refers to major growth in population in the United States and extravagant displays of wealth and excess of America's upper-class during George Washington Vanderbilt II ( November 14 1862 – March 6 1914) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt This article is about the railroad magnate For his grandson the governor of Rhode Island see William Henry Vanderbilt III. Asheville is a City in and the County seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to create his own summer estate in the area, just as his older brothers and sisters had built opulent summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, and Hyde Park, New York. From the late 1870s to the 1920s the Vanderbilt family employed America's best Beaux-Arts architects and decorators to build an unequalled string of New York Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km south of Providence Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States See also New Hyde Park for the village on Long Island there is also a hamlet named Hyde Park in Otsego County, near Cooperstown New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous

Vanderbilt's idea was to replicate the working estates of Europe. He commissioned Richard Morris Hunt, who had previously designed houses for various Vanderbilt family members, to design the house in imitation of several Loire Valley chateaux, including the Chateau de Blois. Richard Morris Hunt ( October 31 1827 – July 31, 1895) was a preeminent figure in the history of American Architecture. Loire Valley (Vallée de la Loire is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. Wanting the best, Vanderbilt also employed Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds, including the deliberately rustic three-mile approach road, and Gifford Pinchot to manage the forests. Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American Gifford Pinchot ( August 11 1865 October 4 1946) was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service (1905–1910 and the Intending that the estate could be self-supporting, Vanderbilt set up scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms and a dairy. Forestry is the Art and Science of managing forests tree Plantations and related Natural resources. Poultry is the category of Domesticated Birds which some humans keep for the purpose of collecting their eggs, or kill for their Meat and/or Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal Milk &mdashmostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, Sheep The estate included its own village (today Biltmore Village) and a church. Biltmore Village is a small village that is now entirely in the city limits of Asheville North Carolina. ^[2] The Vanderbilts invited family and friends from across the country to experience the opulent estate. Famous guests to the estate have included author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, presidents McKinley, Wilson and Nixon, and Charles, Prince of Wales. Edith Wharton ( January 24 1862 &ndash August 11 1937) was an American Novelist, Short story Writer Henry James, OM ( –) son of theologian Henry James Sr, brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James William McKinley Jr ( January 29, 1843 September 14, 1901) was the twenty-fifth President of the United States, and the last Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28 1856—February 3 1924 was the twenty-eighth President of the United States.

Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments, and the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. After Vanderbilt died of complications from an emergency appendectomy in 1914, his widow, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, finalized the sale of much of the original 125,000 acres (506 km²) to the federal government (begun by Vanderbilt before his death), which became the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest. An appendicectomy (or appendectomy) is the surgical removal of the Vermiform appendix. Edith Vanderbilt ( 17 January 1873 &ndash 21 December 1958) nee Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, and later Edith Gerry, was a The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina.

The estate today covers approximately 8,000 acres (32 km²) and is split in half by the French Broad River. The French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. It is owned by The Biltmore Company, which is controlled by Vanderbilt's grandson, William A.V. Cecil, II. The Biltmore Company in Asheville North Carolina, owns and operates 8000 acres (32 km² of land and business William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil (born 17 August 1928) is the younger son of John Francis Amherst Cecil (1890 – 1954 and Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (1900 – In 1964, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the

Tourist attraction

View of the west side of the house from the Shrub garden

In an attempt to bolster the Depression-riven economy, Vanderbilt's only child, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, and husband John Amherst Cecil opened Biltmore House to the public on March 15, 1930. Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The house was occupied less and less permanently until 1956, when it was permanently opened to the public as a house museum. Visitors from all over the world continue to marvel at the 70,000 gallon indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, turn-of-the-century exercise equipment, two-story library, and other rooms filled with artworks, furniture and 19th-century novelties such as elevators, forced-air heating, centrally-controlled clocks, fire alarms and an intercom system. Bowling is a Game / Sport in which players attempt to score points by rolling a Bowling ball along a flat surface either into objects called pins Exercise equipment is any object used in Exercise. This can include Balls Treadmills weights, light benches,stationary bikes A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution An elevator or lift is a Transport device used to move people or goods vertically from one floor to another An intercom (intercommunication device is an electronic communications system intended for limited or private dialogue direction collaboration or announcements It remains a major tourist attraction in western North Carolina, with more than 1 million visitors each year. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States

In 2005 the fourth floor of the house was restored and opened to visitors. Fourth Floor reveals the life of a Biltmore House maid, displaying a servants’ hall, bedrooms, bathrooms, and three house closets. Maid is also a shortened form of " Maiden " an archaic word for an unmarried woman or a Virgin. The Architectural Model Room showcases Hunt’s 1889 model of Biltmore House, while the Observatory offers views of the estate from a central vantage point at the top of the main tower.

Besides the house, the grounds also feature approximately 75 acres of more formal gardens, a winery and the Inn on Biltmore Estate, a Mobil Travel Guide four-star and AAA four-diamond 213-room hotel. Mobil Gas Station by David Shankbonejpg|thumb|Mobil gas station East Village section of New York City]] Mobil was a major American oil company The AAA (usually read triple-A) formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is an American not-for-profit Automobile

Future plans include the restoration of the Louis XV Suite in 2009 and the Oak Sitting Room and Second Floor Living Hall in 2012.

Biltmore House ranked eighth in a 2007 poll by the American Institute of Architects of the top 150 favorite structures in the United States. The American Institute of Architects (AIA is a professional organization for Architects in the United States.

Movie roles

The grounds and buildings of Biltmore Estate have appeared in a number of major motion pictures:

• The Clearing (2002)
• Hannibal (2001)
• Patch Adams (1998)
• My Fellow Americans (1996)
• Richie Rich (1994)
• Forrest Gump (1994)
• Last of the Mohicans (1992)
• Mr. Destiny (1990)
• The Private Eyes (1981)
• Being There (1979)
• The Swan (1956)
• Tap Roots (1948)

References

• Hewitt, Mark Alan: The Architect & the American Country House. Yale University Press: New Haven & London 1990, p. 1-10

External links

• Biltmore Estate official website
  • Biltmore Estate Podcasts
• Landmark designation
• Additional Visitor Information on the Biltmore Estate
• Asheville, North Carolina, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary