17 Facts About Biltmore Estate

1.

Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,776
2.

Biltmore Estate loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to build a summer house in the area, which he called his "little mountain escape".

FactSnippet No. 1,429,777
3.

Biltmore Estate returned to North Carolina with thousands of furnishings for his newly built home, including tapestries, hundreds of carpets, prints, linens, and decorative objects, dating from the 15th century to the late 19th century.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,778
4.

Biltmore Estate carried out her late husband's wish that the land remain pristine, and that property became the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,779
5.

Biltmore Estate intermittently occupied the house, living in an apartment created in the former Bachelors' Wing, until the marriage of her daughter Cornelia to John Francis Amherst Cecil in April 1924.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,780
6.

At that point Biltmore Estate House ceased to be a family residence and was operated as a historic house museum.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,781
7.

Biltmore Estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963, and remains a major tourist attraction in western North Carolina, with 1.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,782
8.

The self-supporting ceramic tile vault and arch system was used extensively inside and outside of Biltmore Estate, and was patented by Rafael Guastavino, a Spanish architect and engineer who personally supervised the installation.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,783
9.

Biltmore Estate House had electricity from the time it was built, though initially with DC, due to Vanderbilt's friendship with Thomas Edison.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,784
10.

Biltmore Estate has four acres of floor space and 250 rooms in the house, including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens and 19th-century novelties such as an electric Otis elevator, forced-air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms, and a call bell system.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,785
11.

Biltmore Estate's bedroom connects to his wife's Louis XV-style, oval-shaped bedroom in the north tower through a Jacobean carved oak paneled sitting room with an intricate ceiling.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,786
12.

Biltmore Estate constructed a Roman formal garden, a formal garden, a bush and tulip garden, water fountains, and a conservatory with individual rooms for palms and roses.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,787
13.

Biltmore Estate asked Richard Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmsted to design a village with architecturally compatible buildings and picturesque landscaping.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,788
14.

Biltmore Estate intended it to be a source of income through rental cottages, a place to help carry out philanthropic programs, and an easy point of access between the estate and the train station.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,789
15.

In 1901, the Vanderbilts provided financial assistance to Biltmore Estate Industries, started by Biltmore Estate Village resident Eleanor Vance, which taught young people how to make hand-carved furniture, woven baskets, homespun wool fabric, and more.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,790
16.

Biltmore Estate is a large enterprise that is one of the largest employers in the Asheville area.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,791
17.

Biltmore Estate has been used on numerous occasions as a filming location for film and television.

FactSnippet No. 1,429,792