Biltmore

The Biltmore Estate represents the finest architecture, construction, and materials available in the late nineteenth century. The famous house was built by George Vanderbilt, grandson of Corneluis Vanderbilt. George inherited money from Cornelius, a pioneer in the railroad industry (Hudson et al. 113).

Cornelius Vanderbilt gained much of his wealth and prominence through hard work in the railroad and shipping industries (Cohen n. pag). BY the time he died, his railroad company he owned was worth well over one-hundred fifty million dollars. Most of his estate was left to his son William, George’s father ("Vanderbilt, Cornelius [1794-1877]" n. pag). While in control of the Vanderbilt fortune, William doubled the size (The Vanderbilt Family n. pag). George eventually inherited the fortune and built the Biltmore Estate. Most of the Vanderbilt family was interested in commerce and fashion, however, George was not. He was interested most in traveling the world. He fell in love with the North Carolina mountains as a young child. Even though he eventually built his home here, he continued to take annual trips to Europe, Africa, and Asia (The Vanderbilt Family n. pag).

The architect of the Biltmore House, Richard Morris Hunt, was one of the finest designers of his time. He studied design in Europe from 1843 to 1854. While there, he became the first American to attend the world renowned design school the Ð"‰cole des Beaux-Arts. Some of his well known designs include: the Lenox Library, the Administration Building for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1883, the Marble house, the Breakers, the Fifth Avenue faÐ"§ade and Fifth Hall, and the base of the Statue of Liberty (Zanten n. pag). He incorporated parts of all of these designs into the construction of the Biltmore House.

Construction of the Biltmore House took over six years (Our Story n. pag). The final size of the house is over four acres of floor space, 250 roomsвЂ"

including: forty three bathrooms, thirty five bedrooms, and three kitchensвЂ"and it is the largest private home in America (Sullivan n. pag). The total cost to build the house is unknown as researchers and historians are unable to estimate (“Biltmore” n. pag). During the six years of construction, over one thousand workers labored. The number of workers was so large that the area known as Biltmore Village was built for housing (Hintz et al. 35).

Biltmore Village was built by George Vanderbilt to house his construction workers and other staff members. Four of the original buildings were designed by Richard Morris Hunt, these being: All Souls Church, the Railway Station, The Biltmore Company offices, and the Post Office. When Hunt died, his on-site architect, Richard Sharpe Smith, took over the design process. Gardens in the village were designed by Frederick law Olmsted, designer of New York’s Central Park (About Us n. pag). Smith designed the school and infirmary of Biltmore Village. The village was also designed to be act as a residential prelude to the Biltmore Estate (Biltmore Village in Asheville n. pag).

The Biltmore House has many features other homes of the time do not. Some of the stunning architectural details include: native limestone, steeply hipped roof sections, chimneys, dormers, decorative windows, and roof cresting. There are also several technologies incorporated into the home that were ver rare, these being: central heating, plumbing, refrigeration,