Here is the history of the Biltmore Mansion. in 1862, George Vanderbilt was born in Staten Island. George Vanderbilt first visited Asheville, NC in 1887. He considered this area as a possible location for his country home. A second visit with his mother in 1888. He began purchasing land for what will become Biltmore.
In 1889, construction of the Biltmore House began. Vanderbilt’s 250 room French Renaissance chateau is a true marvel, the largest undertaking in residential architecture. Over a 6 year prior, over 1,000 craftsmen came together to create American’s premier home.
In 1895, on Christmas Eve, the country retreat, marvelously decorated and full of festivity was opened for family and friends. The finished home contains over four acres of floor spaces including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces and nearly 180,000 sq feet, the Biltmore had several hiding places. The massive library had a secret passageway that leads to the guest bedrooms.
In 1898, George Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in Paris.
In 1900, August 22nd, Cornelia Vanderbilt was born at the Biltmore. She was an only child. Construction of the Main Dairy and Horse Barn began. In 1914, George Vanderbilt died at age 51. Edith Vanderbilt began selling 87,000 acres to the US Forest Service for less than $5.00 an acre. In 1924, daughter, Cornelia married John Francis Amherst Cecil. Two sons were born. George Henry born in 1925 and William in 1928. In 1930, Cornelia and John opened Biltmore to the public. During the depression it was a way to generate Income to preserve the estate.
in 1960, son William left his banking career and joins his brother in managing the estate. In 1971, William plants the first grape vines at Biltmore. Not satisfied with his first bottling, he travels to France and brings back sixth generation winemaster Philippe Jourdain to be Biltmore first winemaker.
In 1983, the Biltmore Estate Wine Company was established. The winery was built where the diary had been. The winery opened to guest in 1985.
Vanderbilt’s initial plans in 1990 to create an Inn never materialized in his lifetime, but in 2001, the Inn on Biltmore Estate was opened.
In 2010, Antler Hill Village Opens with shopping, restaurants, and outdoor activities.
In 2015, Village Hotel on the estate was opened. A casual hotel to serve more overnight guests.
The Biltmore Mansion cost nearly $6 million to build. By today’s standards, this would be approximately $1.6 billion in costs. In 2016, combined revenue from all the Biltmore companies was reported at $207 million. Today, the Biltmore employs 2,400 people. In 2017, The Biltmore Mansion and land was appraised at $300 million. The Biltmore Mansion, land and all the other dwellings is still owned by descendants of the Vanderbilt family. Today, the winery is the most visited in the United States. It spans 94 acres, sells 170,000 cases of wine and sees 650,000 visitors a year.
This is the main dining room where all guests were served. During Christmas, the main dining room was used for all the family. Mrs. Vanderbilt, began shopping for Christmas presents on January 1st. She purchased gifts for all 1000 employees and their children. It is known she was such a loving and giving woman.
Where the fountain is in the middle of the below picture. It opens up and this is where the servants would come up with the food to serve to the guest so no one was disturbed.
Look at the intricate design on this trunk.
Notice the ceiling….it is made of cloth tapestry.
This dining room was used when the Vanderbilts wanted to have a private meal together.
These tapestries on the wall were hand stitched. Can you imagine how long that would take? The furniture in this room was incredible. The tapestry over the fireplace is the only one of its kind left.
This was Mr. Vanderbilt’s library. Look at the ceiling. It is beautiful.
The gun room.
The staircase was awesome. Walking up and then looking down was a sight to see for sure.
Below is Mr Vanderbilts bedroom. Incredible.
Below is Mrs. Vanderbilt’s bedroom. The reason they had separate bedrooms was so the staff that helped them get ready for bed and to help dress the next day, would not see the other gender dressing.
Below is the area between both of the Vanderbilt’s bedrooms. This is where the Vanderbilts would go to be alone without any guests. They both could read quietly, or just be together.
Below is another room that guest could go to relax.
Below is the 2nd floor.
Below are a few of the extra bedrooms for guests.
Below is a bedroom for a very important special guests. It was said that guests would as an average stay anywhere from 1 to 2 months each visit.
Another view of the beautiful staircase.
This was a very long walk to the basement. The temperature difference was so much cooler.
The walls were painted in this room and they referred to it as the Halloween room. The guest were the ones who painted the walls. The name given to this room had nothing to do with Halloween.
There was a bowling alley.
The guest dressing rooms for men.
The guest dressing rooms for the women. Some of the dressing rooms did not have mirrors, but the woman just knew to trust the maid helping them dress to make them look beautiful.
They even had a swimming pool. This was a 70,000 gallon pool with underwater lights. This was quite amazing in the 1800’s.
There also was a gym.
Below is all the pantries.
Below is a walk in refrigerator.
Below is where the servants made all the flower arrangements.
Below are the bedrooms for all the servants.
Below is the dining area for all the servants. They ate all their meals here, unless it was Christmas. Then Mrs. Vanderbilt had everyone eat together in the main dining room of the mansion.
Below is all the laundry rooms. Can you imagine how hot it would be doing all the laundry for the Vanderbilts, guest and household? The main laundry were the linens, towels and dollies. They didn’t wash the clothing very often because they were made of wool and silk. They never dried anything outside. It was always inside and then they ironed everything.
This was the rotisserie room.
This is the main Kitchen.
Below is where the servants would put the meals for the Vanderbilts and guests and it would go up to the main floor to take out to be served. These were named dumb waiters.
Heading down to the gardens. Can you imagine the cost to maintain all these annuals and plants every single year?
Grape vines.
The Arboretum
There were miniatures in all the rooms throughout the Arboretum and around 10 different toy trains running all the time through all the plants. It was so cool and the kids loved it.
As were walking back to the vehicle, I had to practically do a backbend to show how huge and tall these trees are in North Carolina. They are beautiful.
There are several lakes on this property as well.
This is the Inn at the Biltmore, so if you ever want to make reservations to stay here, below is the cost of the rooms. And believe it or not….they don’t have a lot of vacancies.
I hope you enjoy your tour of the Biltmore Estate and some of the history behind the Estate. If you truly ever get a chance to tour this, you need to. It is so worth it. Allow all day or at least 5 to 6 hours to take it all in. It is amazing.
Until next time.