The Biltmore Estate
Besides building a pair of Fifth Avenue mansions known as the Marble Twins, preceded by a townhouse on West 53rd, and a summer cottage in Bar Harbor, George Washington Vanderbilt II built Biltmore House, which remains the largest house ever built in the United States. As the youngest son of William Vanderbilt, he received a lesser amount of the Vanderbilt fortune, and also had little to do in the family businesses which were run by his elder brothers.
George Washington Vanderbilt II (sometimes referred to as the III) purchased 125,000 acres of North Carolina woodlands, intending to build himself a French-style chateau modeled on those of the Loire Valley in France. Essentially Vanderbilt had nothing to do and intended to spend his days as a country gentlemen, pursuing his hobbies of horticulture, agriculture, art collecting, and reading. He hired a forestry expert to manage the unimproved portion of the tract.
While the house was under construction (1889-1896) Vanderbilt traveled extensively to purchase furnishings, including rare and expensive Flemish tapestries, original etchings, paintings and sculptures, carpets, rugs and linens, fountains and mirrors, and antique furniture. As he spent his portion of the Vanderbilt fortune more than 1,000 workers labored on the house, gardens, and outbuildings. A model village was included on the estate, housing most of the workers.
Vanderbilt opened the estate on Christmas Eve 1895, while work was still ongoing. He established the custom of being generous to the children of his employees, in true lord of the manor fashion, bestowing gifts at Christmas and birthdays, and holding celebrations for their benefit. Vanderbilt had hoped that Biltmore would be able to sustain itself, but the sheer size of the house and the expense of maintaining it made that impossible.
When Vanderbilt died suddenly in 1914 the estate was heavily in debt and the sale of 87,000 acres, creating the Pisgah National Forest, was made to the United States Forest Service. Land continued to be sold to defray expenses, and the estate shrank steadily. Through his daughter, the estate passed to the Cecil family, British aristocrats. Biltmore remained a residence, with parts of the house open as a museum, until 1956. It has operated as a museum ever since.