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Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-inspired chateau near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 175,000 square feet. Still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age.
HistoryIn the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt II, youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt, began to make regular visits with his mother to the Asheville area. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to create his own winter estate in the area, as his older brothers and sisters had built opulent summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island and Hyde Park, New York.
Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments, and the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. After Vanderbilt died of complications from an emergency appendectomy in 1914, his widow, Edith Dresser Vanderbilt, finalized the sale of much of the original 125,000 acres (506 km²) to the federal government (begun by Vanderbilt before his death), which became the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest. The estate today covers approximately 8,000 acres and is split in half by the French Broad River. It is owned by The Biltmore Company, which is controlled by Vanderbilt's great-grandson, William A.V. Cecil, II. In 1963, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Tourist attractionImage:Biltmore estate garden, looking at house.jpg View of the west side of the house from the spring garden In an attempt to bolster the depression-riven economy, Vanderbilt's only child, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, and husband John Amherst Cecil opened Biltmore House to the public on March 15, 1930.
In 2005 the fourth floor of the house was opened. The floor reveals the life of a Biltmore House maid with a Servants’ Hall, Servants’ Bedrooms and Bathrooms, and three house closets. The Architectural Model Room showcases Hunt’s 1889 model of Biltmore House, while the Observatory offers magnificent views of the estate from a central vantage point at the top of the main tower. Future plans include the restoration of the Oak Sitting Room (Spring 2009) and Second Floor Living Hall (2012), as well as the opening of the Library Wing guest rooms. TriviaBiltmore Estate's grounds and buildings have appeared in a number of major motion pictures: • The Clearing (2002) The Biltmore Estate ranked 8th in a 2007 poll by the American Institute of Architects of the top 150 favorite structures in the United States. References
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