A SHEVILLE, North Carolina — As a precocious child, I was always fascinated by Richie Rich, the comic book character who was the richest boy on earth, and his many magnanimous efforts to do good for the world. Warner Brothers’ adapted this comic series into a feature film for the big screen in the early 1990s starring Macauley Culkin and John LaRoquette.
So it was magical to visit this extraordinarily stunning place where the indoor and lawn scenes of the movie were filmed in grand opulence. Here, in one of the world’s most magnificent architectural treasures, the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina built in 1895, one realizes that the heirs of Vanderbilt family who own the exquisite edifice have been able to restore this fading beauty to its former glory — without a penny from government funding or outside foundation grants. Despite the unbelievable wealth of the Vanderbilts, their most priceless treasures were things that money could not buy — family, helping the community and keeping their legacy alive.
The illustrious Vanderbilts, perhaps among the richest families ever, behaved and lived the way the world expected them to — lavishly and publicly. Their palatial homes turned New York into a city of palaces and their lavish country homes were a sight to behold — The Breakers, Marble House, Vinland, the Hudson, Long Island, Vermont; but the grandest of all was the immense Biltmore Estate. From the air, the French Renaissance edifice of 250 rooms covering four acres of floor space with 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens and an indoor swimming pool and bowling alley resembles a majestic castle surrounded by extensive lush forests. Their highly popular parties of unfathomable scales took place here. They may have had their share of scandals yet the Vanderbilt family attempted to, in the best way they knew how, to remain as solid as ever.
Biltmore House has appropriately garnered esteemed popularity as Monticello, Mount Vernon and even Colonial Williamsburg. Truly, one will be baffled by this example of Gilded Age Splendor. Here at the luxurious Biltmore House, the largest private home ever created in the US, French inspiration is evident among its 50,000 priceless furnishings and masterpieces, set in a magnificent and enchanting haven. A National Historic Landmark, George Washington Vanderbilt’s dream home encourages visitors to explore its glorious past as well as its dynamic future.
The Biltmore Estate is as amazing as the family behind it. George, a voracious reader who covered various subjects, and his lovely wife Edith had a very happy marriage but George died at the age of 51 and Edith took the responsibility of conserving all that he had left behind. She withstood the trials and tests behind the preservation of this legacy, to preserve this home that was the repository of loving memories among family and friends.
Biltmore was the ultimate Gilded Age folly, dwarfing even Newport, R.I.’s Breakers, built by G.W. Vanderbilt’s brother Cornelius II, and a more recent Xanadu, the Hearst castle in San Simeon, California. Starting with the purchase of 2,000 acres of land in North Carolina, George owned 100,000 acres by the turn of the century. Having accumulated all this land, George now decided to build the largest private house in America, establish a model dairy farm, revive the forest and establish a forestry school and arboretum. For a young man of 28 years, a bachelor belonging to one of the richest families in America, he could do as he pleased. He called the place Biltmore, combining the name “Bildt,” the town in Holland where his ancestors had lived, and an Old English word “more,” meaning rolling, upland and country.
To assist him with the project, he chose three remarkable men: Richard Morris Hunt, 62, as architect; Frederick Law Olmsted 67, as landscape designer; and Gifford Pinchot as forester. Hunt was the official family architect who had created Central Park and Gifford was a well-connected New Yorker.
As America’s largest private home, the 250-room Biltmore House is open year round to the public for museum style tours. The estate now belongs to his grandson, William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, a banker from New York who established Biltmore into a tourist and trade haven. In the late 1950s, Cecil started his dream to turn this down-at-the-heels mansion that was draining the family business into the most successful, privately preserved historic site in the United States and perhaps the world over. “The quality of preservation is top-notch,” says Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington-based nonprofit group that administers historical sites. “They maintain a very high level of excellence.”
In the book Lady on the Hill written by Howard Covington Jr, we learn that Cecil didn’t just raise the funds for the painstaking restoration of the estate, he also achieved a goal that his grandfather found elusive. “He made Biltmore Estate a self-sustaining, working enterprise that included a vibrant tourist destination, a working winery and vineyard, and a farming operation; employed hundreds of people; and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy every year.” William said, “This was our inheritance. It was all we had. We had to do something with it or lose it. This was meant to be a working estate, so it was natural that I should make it work.”
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to stay in this spectacular venue on the Fourth of July. It was a cool evening as several guests and staff of the quintessential Biltmore Inn, created by the great grandchildren of George Vanderbilt. The newly created luxury accommodations are just a stone’s throw from the palatial Biltmore House.
Excitement was palpable as we lay our blue and white-checkered mats on the moist ground. It was pitch dark as we witnessed the amazing display of fireworks in different eclectic colors, patterns and coordinates illuminating everything in its path like a magical wizard. My heart skipped a beat and I whispered a prayer that this spectacle could last forever.
Independence Day, the birthday of the United States, invokes a patriotic sense of victory for this great nation. It surpasses their celebration of New Year in terms of grandeur and festivities. After the last firework fizzled to oblivion, the lone spectator that joined us as a mighty witness to this significant celebration — the stunning orange ball of light and might — the glorious harvest moon.
Beauty and luxury are revered traditions here at Biltmore. Notwithstanding it glory and opulence, Biltmore was a home where love, laughter, friendships and celebrations took place. It was here where George Washington Vanderbilt pursued his passions in art, literature, horticulture and his family. When George married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in Paris, the couple resided in Biltmore after their honeymoon and it was here where their only child Cornelia was born and grew up in.
My brother Mark, a history buff, is a walking encyclopedia on family empires. He is fascinated by the past and how to use these valuable lessons that ought to be shared with the next generations to learn from and appreciate. In retrospect, the great patriarch of the clan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, had humble farmstead beginnings. With only $100, he started his career as a builder of ships. His hard work and sheer determination and perseverance allowed him to acquire vast wealth, fame and fortune and social standing. The establishment of their fortune has been clearly chronicled and dazzlingly portrayed.
The Vanderbilt dynasty takes front rank in the glittering annals of the American rich. Experiencing the famed Biltmore House and learning about how they lived and loved, is far more impressive than any movie filmed here.
William Vanderbilt Cecil’s son, Bill Jr., continues to work hard to give its guests one of America’s most gratifying cultural and aesthetic experiences. This astonishing creation will continue to inspire and entertain many guests for decades to come. Yet, at the end of it all, we learn to embrace that the most important of all our possessions are not what money can buy but our most cherished recollections.
One beautiful and touching universal truth will always stand out. Biltmore has always been about family. And this is why it will always have a special place in our hearts.
* * *
For more about Biltmore, or book a visit to Biltmore, please go to www.biltmore.com or call 877-BILTMORE.
E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.