Biltmore House From The Esplanade
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Approached from the Biltmore Lodge Gate of Biltmore Estate, along a three-mile drive of paved roads which wind their way through plantations of flowering shrubs and forests of pine, hemlock and hardwood, Biltmore House, for nearly half a century unique among the great country houses of America, comes into view with almost startling suddenness. A sharp turn through the wrought iron gates of the north entrance gives one the first view of the magnificent mansion completed by George W. Vanderbilt in 1895.
Banquet Hall and Its Triple Fireplace
Following in many details the lines of French Renaissance chateaux, particularly those of Blois and Chambord, Biltmore House was designed by Richard M. Hunt, of New York. The landscape setting of the mansion and the estate was planned by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, New York, and executed under the direction of C. D. Beadle, for more than sixty years Superintendent of the Estate. By many, the great estate surrounding the mansion is believed to be the finest example of landscape design in America.
The visitor can profitably study the exterior of the mansion before passing through the main portal. The structure has a frontage of 780 feet. The breadth of the house, from the main door to the west front, is 150 feet. The facade rises in three distinct levels, graduated from portals to finials. The characteristic French peaked roof, with its dormer windows and lofty chimneys, relieves any tendency toward severity. The walls are of hand-tooled Indiana limestone; the roof is of slate.
Biltmore House, begun in 1890, was completed and opened in 1895 after five years of intensive construction. Special railroad tracks were laid from what is now Biltmore station to the site—three miles away—for the conveyance of the great mass of construction material required. Hundreds of skilled artisans from various parts of this country and Europe worked unremittingly, while other hundreds of laborers from the mountain sections of North Carolina were given steady employment during the period of construction.
The visitor gains the first impression of the mansion’s magnitude when passing through the main entrance door, flanked by sixteenth century lions of Italian marble, into the great hall which gives access to the main rooms. The self-supporting arches surrounding the Palm Court are ceiled with tiles especially made by the celebrated artist and architect, Rafael Guastavino, while the arches and dome of the broad circular stairway which spirals to the topmost floor from the left side of the hall are of Indiana limestone. Facing the entrance door from the rear of the hall is a ceremonial furnishing of Cardinal Richelieu, showing the Cardinal’s coat-of-arms, motto and hat; it is one of a pair, the other is hung on the wall of the second-floor corridor. The grand staircase, modeled after that of the Chateau Blois, winds its way around the massive wrought iron chandelier which extends downward from the roof to the Entrance Hall ceiling, and bears a light cluster for each landing.
While visitors are free to choose their own itinerary, the tour of the mansion usually begins at the Court of Palms, adjoining the Entrance Hall. This court is a sunken area, encircled with marble and, in almost every season, adorned with masses of flowers from the gardens and greenhouses. The central fountain is surmounted by a statue of a boy and swan, the work of Karl Bitter, the Austro-American sculptor. On the walls are copies of the Parthenon Reliefs, now in the British Museum.
From the Court of Palms the visitor enters the Oak Drawing Room, panelled in Norwegian oak. Most of the engravings hanging here are after paintings by Landseer. Heads of deer, buffalo, moose, and bear also adorn the walls. The three bronzes over the fireplace are by Barye, while on the bookcase at the left are four Chinese Celadon vases. The Spanish table in the center is of late eighteenth century origin, as is the writing desk facing the entrance.
From the Oak Drawing Room one enters the great Banquet Hall, one of the chief centers of attraction. Copied in large measure from an old Norman banquet hall, this room is 72 feet long; its ceiling reaches a height of 75 feet. At one end a triple fireplace, extending almost across the entire width of the room, is surmounted by a frieze by Bitter, “The Return From The Chase.” High above the frieze are grouped the flags of the great powers of Europe at the time Columbus discovered America.
The outstanding objects of interest in the Banquet Hall are five sixteenth century tapestries depicting the story of Vulcan and the loves of Venus and Mars. It is the unconfirmed legend that these tapestries, woven of silk and gold, adorned the tent of the French King, Francis I, on the occasion of his historic meeting with Henry VIII of England on the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The various figures on the tapestries, which were made in Brussels after the cartoons of the Bolognese painter, Primaticcio, stand out in striking relief. Particularly does one note the beauty and naturalness of the four medallions, one at each corner.
On the walls are replicas of the flags of the thirteen original states, and the Biltmore Estate World War service flag, with its fifty-three stars—three of them gold—hangs proudly over the center arch. At the opposite end of the Banquet Hall from the fireplace, sets of shelves display brass and copper pieces of Dutch, Spanish and French origin which are attributed to artisans of the seventeenth century. The large pipes in the organ loft above are flanked by wood carved reliefs by Karl Bitter, depicting scenes from Wagner’s operas.
From the Banquet Hall the visitor proceeds to the Dining Room, the walls of which are wainscotted in red marble, surmounted by tooled Spanish leather; the upholstery is of Genoese velvet in red and gold. On the right is the fireplace by Wedgwood. Portraits of members of the Vanderbilt family hang from the walls. In this room are displayed beautiful ivory carvings and lustre-ware.
In the Print Room are rare engravings by Earlom, McArdell, Turner, Cousins, Ward and Cole. On the center pillar of the entrance is the remarkable engraving, “The Executioner,” by Prince Rupert, after Spagnoletto; underneath it is “The Virgin and Child,” engraved by Theodore Caspara Furstenbergh, after Correggio. The large reassembled engraving on the left wall shows the family pedigree of Maximilian the Great, by Albrecht Durer (1515); the six engravings on either side of this piece are also by Durer.
A Spanish cabinet of the sixteenth century is placed on the left of the large Durer engraving; on the right a Dutch cabinet of the late seventeenth century. On the right of the entrance, in the center of the end wall, is an Italian ebony dresser of the sixteen-seventeenth century; between the windows are a number of bronze busts by Meunier.
An antique that attracts much interest, especially among students of history, is found in the right hand corner of this room, near the entrance—the chess table and set of chessmen once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, and used by him during the six years of his imprisonment on the island of St. Helena. Tradition has it that the emperor’s heart was placed in the drawer of this table, after being sealed in a silver box, following the autopsy performed by Antommarchi. Doctor O’Meara, a physician placed in attendance on Napoleon by the British government, says in his memoirs that Lady Holland, of England, presented the famous Corsican with a chess table, and it is probable that this is the table referred to by O’Meara.
From the Print Room visitors enter the Tapestry Gallery. Covering almost the entire 90-foot length of the walls are Flemish tapestries of the late fifteenth century, depicting Prudence, Faith and Charity. On the left of the first fireplace is a sofa in French tapestry of Henry III period, late sixteenth century; the six tapestry chairs in the center of the gallery are Louis XIV. Four chairs and the sofa under the middle tapestry are of Louis XIV period.
The Grand Spiral Stairway
In the center is a large refectory table from an old English monastery, probably removed from its original setting during the reign of Henry VIII. Twelve Dresden china figures of the Twelve Apostles, bearing imprint of the Imperial Arms of Austria, are believed to have come from a private chapel of the Hapsburgs. Over the door into the Library is a portrait of George W. Vanderbilt by Sargent; on the left a Sargent portrait of his mother, Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt, and on the right a portrait of Mrs. Peter Goelet Gerry (formerly Mrs. George W. Vanderbilt) by Boldini.
Moving into the Library the visitor’s attention centers on the famous ceiling painted by Tiepolo, the last outstanding artist of the Venetian school, who died in 1770. The canvas, which covers the library ceiling, was obtained by Mr. Vanderbilt from an old Italian palace, on his pledge that the name of the former owner should never be revealed.
The unique library, panelled in Circassian walnut, contains more than 20,000 volumes, among them rare works on art, architecture and landscape gardens. Over the fireplace hangs an Italian tapestry, of the late seventeenth century. Two white porcelain vases of eighteenth century, three large Chinese goldfish bowls, credited to the Ming dynasty, and a piece of sixteenth century Spanish embroidery on the long table at the end of the room, are other rare objects of interest. The carved black marble fireplace on the left is nine feet wide and six feet high; the figures on the andirons are by Bitter.
Leaving the Library one mounts the grand staircase to the second floor and enters the First Hall, a room 72 by 35 feet. Here are hung many valuable paintings, among them Sargent’s life-size portraits of Richard Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmsted, designers of the house and the estate respectively. Here also is seen a large Persian palace or temple rug, middle sixteenth century, 33 by 25 feet. The furniture here is Venetian, late eighteenth century. Another object of interest is a Spanish Wedding Vestment Chest. Above is an Italian mirror, nineteenth century.
Opening from the hall is the Louis XVI Bedroom with furniture of that period. The South Bedroom, once occupied by Mr. Vanderbilt, commands from its windows views of rarely excelled scenic splendor. In this room the carving and panelling are of walnut; the furniture is Spanish, Italian and Portuguese of the early eighteenth century. The bed, hung in red and gold, is Spanish.
The North Bedroom is upholstered in purple and gold Genoese velvet. The Oak Sitting Room, between the North and South Bedrooms, contains several large and beautiful bronzes by Barye, Meunier and Mene. There also is a Maria di Medici settee bearing the private monogram of that tempestuous queen, and on the wall are displayed Sargent’s portraits of Mrs. Kissam and Mrs. Bacon.
The visitor emerging from the mansion looks down upon a grassy Esplanade, in the center of which are a fountain and pool, with driveways on either side. Beyond the Esplanade is a magnificent structure of stone, the “Rampe Douce,” with its three turtle founts, erected to enable one, whether mounted or afoot, to reach the bridle paths and glades above and beyond. Below the level of the Library Terrace and the Esplanade, surrounded by boxwood and holly hedges, are the Swimming Pool and Italian Garden. The holly hedge is studded at regular intervals with Italian sculptured urns. Here is the wall with ivy from Kenilworth Castle, and a veritable forest of old Wistaria vine greets the visitor in the Pergola. Here, as in almost every other part of the grounds adjacent to the mansion, are rare examples of beautiful statuary procured by Mr. Vanderbilt on his travels abroad.
Beyond the Library Terrace are the Italian Garden, the Shrub Garden, the Walled Garden, the Spring Garden and the Azalea Garden, in the aggregate containing about thirty-five acres of rare and beautiful plants and flowers in almost endless variety, which bloom in seasonal succession.
The greenhouses at the end of the Walled Garden are devoted to the cultivation of plants and flowers used in the adornment of the mansion. The giant palms and ferns of many varieties present a truly tropical scene.
An estate of some 12,000 acres surrounds Biltmore House; formerly it comprised more than 100,000 acres, but a large portion of the forest area was granted to the government by Mrs. Vanderbilt after Mr. Vanderbilt’s death, as the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest, and 1,500 acres were allotted for development of the Biltmore Forest Country Club and the Town of Biltmore Forest. The estate, with its 17 miles of paved and macadam roads, and 120 miles of equestrian trails and earth roads, gives employment to more than 500 people, the greater number of these being engaged in the operation of the Biltmore Dairy Farms and kindred activities. The Biltmore herd of some 1200 pure-bred Jerseys is one of the largest, and is recognized as one of the finest, in the country.
As a result of the efforts on behalf of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, Biltmore House was opened to the public March 15, 1930, sixteen years after Mr. Vanderbilt’s death. Admission tickets are on sale at the Biltmore Estate office on the Plaza in Biltmore, and at the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.
