March 16, 2008
Biltmore just as magnificent as I remembered
By Gene Krider
For my 15th birthday I requested, in lieu of presents, that my family take me to see the Biltmore House in Asheville. That was actually an extravagant request because there were four adults in my family (at $12 each) and four children (at $6 each) which came to $72. This would buy many books, phonograph records and sweaters — my usual birthday presents. In the D. Matt Thompson school library, I had seen an article in The State magazine that told of the wonders of this magnificent estate.
It was the largest private home in America at 250 rooms on 10,000 acres. I just had to see it. My experience that November sent me on a private study of architecture and furniture styles and their place in history.
The Rev. MacKendree Long told me about studying with the portrait painter John Singer Sargent. The magazine told how Mr. Vanderbilt had carried Sargent, the architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmestead and families on his private train to stay at Biltmore for a month so the artist could paint official portraits to hang in Biltmore House.
Two weeks ago, I found out handicapped people and companions could get in for $18 each (regular admission ranges from $30-$50) Rich, the Vietnamese student who stayed with me while he went to Mitchell Community College, had been wanting to go to Biltmore, so I called him and he agreed to take me during his spring break from UNC-Charlotte.
I have visited Biltmore innumerable times, and on each visit, I find something new. This time, being handicapped, I was able to ride in the original elevator, the oldest operating elevator in the Southeast.
The first few times I went to Biltmore, we were able to drive up to the main entrance and park in front of the house. Now, due to the 1 million annual visitors, there are a series of parking lots on each side of the house with a shuttle service to the front entrance. Coming through the entrance gate and turning right to drive down the vast front lawn is still an overwhelming experience.
In fact, the whole estate is overwhelming. The house’s floor area is measured, not in square feet, but in acres. A few years ago, annual members were invited to meet with the conservators who take care of the house. I was told there are more than a million individual objects that have to be cleaned and cared for.
Just before that visit, a huge moose head hanging over one of the tapestries in the banquet hall fell down and an antler tore a long gash in it. They showed me how they were hand-dying thread to match the original colors so the tear could be repaired. They had to go to Italy to bring experts to clean and repair the painting on the library ceiling. Vanderbilt found it in a Venetian palace. The banquet hall and tapestry gallery were designed to fit the seven large tapestries in the house.
I finally found out the derivation of the name Biltmore. Vanderbilt is from a Dutch town Bildt that the family came from (van der Bildt.) “More” is an old English word meaning rolling hills.
The estate is still owned and lived in by Vanderbilt’s descendants.
They take care of the house, grounds and enterprises like the winery. In 1930, his daughter, Cornelia Cecil, gave more than 100,000 acres to the National Trust for Pisgah National Forest, and her son granted right-of-ways for the Blue Ridge Parkway and Interstate 40 that cross over Biltmore Estate.
