Dr. Irene Strychalski spoke of the Biltmore Estate.

Fredonia Shakespeare Club met at the home of Dr. Irene Strychalski where she presented a paper on the Biltmore Estate.

In 1888, George Washington Vanderbilt, the youngest child of William Henry and Maria Kissam Vanderbilt, was accompanying his mother on a trip to treat her lingering malaria. Asheville, North Carolina was growing rapidly as a resort and sanitarium destination and while she sought treatment, George explored the region.

At age 25 and with bursting bank accounts of $12 million to $13 million, he was quite the New York society catch. He was, however, more interested in books, was fluent in 8 languages and not interested in having a cottage in Newport or other society ventures.

Instead, in June 1888 he bought the first 661 parcels near Asheville, NC. Here, in Southern Appalachia, he would build his country home. This would be his refuge from the hectic life in New York. His vision would be painted upon the fields, mountains, streams and slopes with Mount Pisgah as its anchor area as an integrated destination, a place with a life and a pulse of its own. And he could afford to employ the greatest creative minds of the time to help him shape his vision. He chose architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted.

Olmsted needed to survey the land and select the best places for views from the house. He had observation towers built in strategic positions to simulate the views from the future music room and terrace. A reliable water source was needed, as well as the placement of the roads. The approach road was selected to have no distant view, consistent with the sensation of passing through a natural forest. The rhododendrons, holly and white pine would suddenly and dramatically give way to a large, grassy rectangle with the chateau rising up on the western side. Once inside the house, a stranger would pass through it and then be able to view the spectacular distant mountains which were the principal attraction.

While Olmsted was making the plan of the estate, Vanderbilt was scouting various chateaux in France and England with the Hunts. The dramatic spiral staircase at Biltmore was inspired by the French chateaux. In October 1889 the New York Tribune and the New York Sun both reported on the delivery of the construction model to Hunt’s office in New York.

In order to bring supplies to the construction site, a temporary railroad extension from Asheville was constructed. Bricks and tiles were produced locally as well. In fact, an entire village was constructed to meet the needs of the workers and their families. The community was planned to support the estate with its own church, school shops, offices, railroad station as well as housing

In the meantime, Olmsted concentrated on the surroundings of the future chateau. He ordered 30,000 native plants from a North Carolina gardening firm: 4 varieties of rhododendron, as well as holly and dwarf sand myrtle. Plants that were not available locally were ordered as seeds, cutting or plants from suppliers in Japan, England, France, Germany Switzerland, Egypt and India. By the end of 1893, almost 3 million plants had been planted.

The first material needed in bulk for the house was gravel. It was used for roadbeds, bridges, as ballast in laying the railroad, and in the concrete footings for the house and terrace.

This was quarried locally and transported by railway to the building site and moved from there by men and mules. The local brickworks employed as many as 150 men, with a fabrication record of 15,000 per day. Steel l-beams from the Carnegie Steel Mills in Pittsburgh, which carried brick arches and were designed to support the floors of the house, were installed in December 1891. The exterior of the house was covered with Indiana limestone. This was delivered by rail to sheds on the building site, where it was cut into building blocks according to architectural drawings. The exposed face of each stone was worked with chisels resembling the teeth of a comb to create a special surface texture to the entire building. Ornamental moldings were roughed out in the sheds, but stonecutters working on scaffolds finished them after the stone had been set in the wall. A great variety of sculptural details decorated Biltmore.

The deadline for the completion of construction work had been set for Christmas 1895. As it drew nearer work became even more complex due to the many mechanical systems, such as: wiring, plumbing, heating, refrigeration, telephones and elevators, which had to be incorporated unobtrusively. Although Biltmore was to look like a 16th century chateau, it was also to function as efficiently as an up-to-date urban hotel. Heat, light, water and electricity had to be delivered to 255 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 288 light fixtures and 180 outlets. An industrial rather than residential system of gasoline generators, storage batteries and transformers supplied electricity to the house. A continuous hot water loop provided hot water instantaneously to faucets throughout the house.

There was a hot-air central heating system supplying radiators in all the rooms. The 37 fireplaces were a secondary, but welcoming and cheering source of heat.

Approaching Biltmore House, one would go along a winding, wooded driveway until suddenly exiting to the Grand Esplanade. This huge poplar-lined rectangle of closely cropped lawn with its large central fountain gave a view of the impressive edifice set in a mountainous landscape. Approaching closer the landscape recedes and soon the house dominates the entire foreground.

The entrance to the 780-foot-long facade of Biltmore is guarded by a pair of marble lions. The central tower is flanked by the staircase on one side and the palm court on the other. Stepping past the lions one enters the vestibule, climbing up one level one enters the main hall.

To the left is the grand staircase which covers 4 floors with a central 1,700-pound wrought iron chandelier. To the right of the main hall is the palm court from which all rooms on the main floor radiate.

In order to furnish his huge house, George Vanderbilt went on numerous buying trips to Europe. Furniture and furnishings arrived from many countries, for example: 50 large crates of flowerpots from Italy; eleven crates of furniture from London including Chippendale style furniture; two bales and four crates containing rugs and curtains, from Constantinople; seven cases of silverware: French furnishings in the style of the kings Louis 15th and 16th, and so on, as well as rare antiques such as Napoleon’s writing desk.

For 19 years George and Edith entertained countless guests in their home, until his untimely death at age 51. Now the house still belongs to the Cecil/Vanderbilt family and is run as a house museum/hotel/winery/ and wedding destination. Further information and video tours showing the sumptuous decor can be viewed on the Biltmore web site.