Almost 10 million pounds of limestone was used to build it. The entire estate originally covered , acres now it's a modest 8, acres. The first room you will see is the Winter Garden. Your self-guided tour covers three floors and the basement. Additional sections of the house can be seen with special guided tours. While there is so much to see, take time to appreciate the amazing art collection.
Marvel at magnificent 16th-century tapestries. The largest room in the house is the Banquet Hall with a seven-story high ceiling and triple fireplace. The Breakfast Room is always decorated with seasonal flowers. In , Cornelia and John Cecil opened Biltmore House to the public, hoping to increase local tourism during the Depression.
The room was designed about the gorgeous 18th century ceiling painting by Pelligrini. The painting, 64 feet long by 32 feet wide, consists of 13 separate canvases, the central scene surrounded by 12 smaller paintings.
The black marble fireplace and walnut mantle were carved by Austrian artist Karl Bitter. At age 12, he began keeping a record of the books he had read, including the title and author of each work. He read an average of 81 books a year. Take a photo tour of Christmas inside Biltmore House.
George Vanderbilt engaged two of the most distinguished designers of the 19th century: architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted Its scale continues to be astounding: the house contains more than 11 million bricks; the massive stone spiral staircase rises four floors and has steps.
Through its center hangs an iron chandelier suspended from a single point, containing 72 electric light bulbs. For much more info about things to do on the Estate, go to our Biltmore Guide. And download a printed room-by-room guide of Biltmore House. Construction of Biltmore House was under way in ; it was a massive undertaking that included a mansion, gardens, farms and woodlands.
George Vanderbilt engaged two of the most distinguished designers of the 19th-century: architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted The centerpiece was a four-story stone house with a ft. Even after six years, Biltmore House was not complete when George Vanderbilt opened it in ; work would continue for years. Its scale continues to be astounding: the house contains more than 11 million bricks; the massive stone spiral staircase rises four floors and has steps. Through its center hangs an iron chandelier suspended from a single point, containing 72 electric light bulbs.
The Collection Vanderbilt, the grandson of industrialist Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, was an intellectual, fluent in several languages, well-traveled and knowledgeable about art, architecture, music, agriculture, horticulture and literature. Vanderbilt's diverse and cultured tastes influenced his travels with architect Hunt while Biltmore House was being constructed. The two men traveled throughout Europe and the Orient, purchasing paintings, porcelains, bronzes, carpets and furniture.
All of it would eventually become part of the collection of objects still in Biltmore House today. Indeed, it is often the collection, reflecting Vanderbilt's personal interests and tastes, that guests then, as well as now, find most fascinating. Inside, artworks by Renoir, Sargent, Whistler, Pellegrini and Boldini adorn the walls and, in one case, the ceiling.
The furniture includes designs by Sheraton and Chippendale. A chess set and gaming table, which belonged to Napoleon when he was in exile at St. Helena, are on display in the salon, and Chinese goldfish bowls from the Ming Dynasty can be admired in the library. Fifty Persian and Oriental rugs cover marble and oak floors. The House Upstairs on the second and third floors, in addition to luxurious bedrooms, are areas where guests once played parlor games and took afternoon tea.
The Fourth Floor features Maids' Bedrooms and the Observatory, with spectacular views from the top of the front of the house. Downstairs, the domestic servants kept the entire house running smoothly with the help of a state-of-the-art domestic nerve center, complete with a main kitchen, two specialty kitchens, large laundry complex, refrigeration systems and pantries.
The massive dining room at Biltmore. Here the table is set for 18, but it can be extended to seat 64 people. The estate is much more than its big French chateau-like house. The surrounding property was always meant to be self-sustaining and today its remaining 8, acres are doing just that. First opened to the public in , the property has 75 acres 30 hectares of formal gardens created by America's premier gardener Frederick Law Olmsted, buildings, 80 structures — garages, a dozen barns, greenhouses, stables, cottages, sheds, offices — and 40 bridges.
Read more: Court rules Bavaria can own Neuschwanstein Castle brand. When the estate was new it was , acres and had just over employees. In , though the property was much reduced in size, the New York Times reported that the company had employees. Now Biltmore employs over 2, people; during the busy Christmas season even more are on the payroll. For the surrounding community, Biltmore is extremely important as it is a huge driver of tourism and "those visitors also usually visit other attractions, eat at restaurants and visit art galleries and brewpubs, so the estate is a real economic engine for the area," Boyle told DW.
All of this is possible today because of one man, William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, a Harvard graduate who once worked at Chase Manhattan bank. He inherited the house and the property along with his brother, both grandsons of George Vanderbilt. At the time, the Biltmore Dairy was doing well and was able to support the whole place. Most historic houses in the United States like Monticello , Mount Vernon or San Simeon are owned by nonprofits, trusts or the government.
Most offer tours have a gift shop and a restaurant and don't make a lot of money. Biltmore offers much more, and has therefore been accused of being too commercial. The preservation world usually wants to keep things how they are.
Biltmore being privately owned — and hugely expensive to run — had to make money in order to preserve the mansion and everything inside. William Cecil experimented and opened the estate's first restaurant, Deerpark, in That same year William and his brother decided to finally divide up the business.
William got the unprofitable house with 8, acres: The Biltmore Company. George took the dairy, about 4, acres and the entire business infrastructure: Biltmore Farms. Suddenly, without the dairy to pay the bills, William Cecil was on his own. He would make or break the entire estate. The Biltmore Winery was the company's biggest investment — and risk — in the s. At the time it was thought that fine wine could not be made in North Carolina.
William Cecil proved them wrong. With a shoestring budget, Cecil proved to be very creative over the years. He sold the estate's crops and plants from the greenhouses. For a while he made a business of his employee's restoration knowledge and even rented out the landscaping crew for off-property clients. To keep money coming in, he spent lavishly on marketing. He also focused on repeat visitors and to "keep bringing them back" he opened new parts of the house in , which included the kitchens, swimming pool, bowling alley and gym.
It was a risky move and went against all advice that it was not possible to make fine wine in North Carolina. The winery, which operated in the old dairy building, offered free wine tastings to all appropriately aged visitors and was a huge success.
In , it sold 1. Last year it produced around 1. The company says it is the "most visited winery in America. Soon after the winery opened, so did Biltmore's second restaurant and first gift shop in the former stable building. Later a bookstore, candy shop, toy store and Christmas shop were added. Investments and visitor numbers were racing skyward.
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