A Visit to Biltmore

Mark D. Ruffner © 2013

Mark D. Ruffner © 2013

I recently visited the Biltmore Estate with my friend Sandy. I'm not sure if it's still the largest house in the United States, but it is certainly the grandest. First, a quick look at the Vanderbilt lineage . . .

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Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877, left) borrowed $100 from his mother and turned it into $100-million by investing in steamships and railroads. His eldest son, William Henry Vanderbilt (1821-1885, center) inherited the bulk of the fortune and within a decade nearly doubled it, becoming the richest man in the world. William Henry's youngest child, George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914, right) spent his life traveling and collecting — and building Biltmore.

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George W. Vanderbilt relied on the expertise of two brilliant designers. Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895) was Biltmore's architect. Among his other accomplishments are the facade of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. Frederick Law Olmstead, Sr. (1822-1903), the father of American landscaping, designed the grounds of Biltmore. He's probably best know for designing New York's Central Park and for consulting on the preservation of Yosemite National Park. Vanderbilt, Hunt and Olmstead became a great collaborative team, all working closely together.

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Hunt was somewhat of a father figure to Vanderbilt, and together they toured Europe to look at great architecture and gain inspiration. Biltmore was primarily inspired by three 16th-century French châteaux. One can see how Chenonceau (above, top) and Chambord (above, bottom) inspired building materials, Biltmore's roof line and details like the elaborate dormer windows.

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Without a doubt, the clearest inspiration for Biltmore is the Chateau de Blois, above. Below are details from Biltmore.

Mark D. Ruffner © 2013

Mark D. Ruffner © 2013

Work on Biltmore began in 1889 and the house was completed in time for a Christmas 1895 celebration. Onsite brickworks produced a staggering 32,000 bricks daily, and Indiana limestone and Italian marble were delivered by a specially installed rail line. There was an onsite woodworking factory and eventually a 300-acre nursery. George Vanderbilt was still in his 20s at the time.

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My favorite room was George Vanderbilt's own bedroom. The bed is Portuguese, and Richard Morris Hunt designed other pieces of furniture to match it.

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I'd like to call your attention to two details. First, notice the Italian marble bathtub with claw feet, reflected in the mirror. Second, take a look at the gold leafed wall covering, which is burlap. I thought that was strange until I realized that the nubbiness of burlap is of course a superb surface for adherence. I love it when materials usually considered as lesser are turned into luxe.

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Vanderbilt's favorite room was the library, which at 10,000 books, actually housed less than half of his collection. Hunt designed the room to fit the Venetian ceiling painting by Giovanni Pelligrini (1675-1741). Vanderbilt had seriously collected books since his childhood and in fact had a library adjoining his childhood bedroom in New York. He encouraged guests to borrow books during their visits, and made the library accessible from the second-floor bedrooms via a door behind the over mantle — you can see the door at the upper left of the above photo.

To read more about this library and George W. Vanderbilt's love of books, I direct you to an excellent article by Samuel Todd Walker, here.

More on Biltmore

in the next posting.

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