The Dining Room
Moving into the Library the visitor’s attention centers on the famous ceiling painted by Tiepolo, the last outstanding artist of the Venetian school, who died in 1770. The canvas, which covers the library ceiling, was obtained by Mr. Vanderbilt from an old Italian palace, on his pledge that the name of the former owner should never be revealed.
The unique library, panelled in Circassian walnut, contains more than 20,000 volumes, among them rare works on art, architecture and landscape gardens. Over the fireplace hangs an Italian tapestry, of the late seventeenth century. Two white porcelain vases of eighteenth century, three large Chinese goldfish bowls, credited to the Ming dynasty, and a piece of sixteenth century Spanish embroidery on the long table at the end of the room, are other rare objects of interest. The carved black marble fireplace on the left is nine feet wide and six feet high; the figures on the andirons are by Bitter.
Leaving the Library one mounts the grand staircase to the second floor and enters the First Hall, a room 72 by 35 feet. Here are hung many valuable paintings, among them Sargent’s life-size portraits of Richard Morris Hunt and Frederick Law Olmsted, designers of the house and the estate respectively. Here also is seen a large Persian palace or temple rug, middle sixteenth century, 33 by 25 feet. The furniture here is Venetian, late eighteenth century. Another object of interest is a Spanish Wedding Vestment Chest. Above is an Italian mirror, nineteenth century.
Opening from the hall is the Louis XVI Bedroom with furniture of that period. The South Bedroom, once occupied by Mr. Vanderbilt, commands from its windows views of rarely excelled scenic splendor. In this room the carving and panelling are of walnut; the furniture is Spanish, Italian and Portuguese of the early eighteenth century. The bed, hung in red and gold, is Spanish.
The North Bedroom is upholstered in purple and gold Genoese velvet. The Oak Sitting Room, between the North and South Bedrooms, contains several large and beautiful bronzes by Barye, Meunier and Mene. There also is a Maria di Medici settee bearing the private monogram of that tempestuous queen, and on the wall are displayed Sargent’s portraits of Mrs. Kissam and Mrs. Bacon.
The visitor emerging from the mansion looks down upon a grassy Esplanade, in the center of which are a fountain and pool, with driveways on either side. Beyond the Esplanade is a magnificent structure of stone, the “Rampe Douce,” with its three turtle founts, erected to enable one, whether mounted or afoot, to reach the bridle paths and glades above and beyond. Below the level of the Library Terrace and the Esplanade, surrounded by boxwood and holly hedges, are the Swimming Pool and Italian Garden. The holly hedge is studded at regular intervals with Italian sculptured urns. Here is the wall with ivy from Kenilworth Castle, and a veritable forest of old Wistaria vine greets the visitor in the Pergola. Here, as in almost every other part of the grounds adjacent to the mansion, are rare examples of beautiful statuary procured by Mr. Vanderbilt on his travels abroad.
Beyond the Library Terrace are the Italian Garden, the Shrub Garden, the Walled Garden, the Spring Garden and the Azalea Garden, in the aggregate containing about thirty-five acres of rare and beautiful plants and flowers in almost endless variety, which bloom in seasonal succession.
The greenhouses at the end of the Walled Garden are devoted to the cultivation of plants and flowers used in the adornment of the mansion. The giant palms and ferns of many varieties present a truly tropical scene.
An estate of some 12,000 acres surrounds Biltmore House; formerly it comprised more than 100,000 acres, but a large portion of the forest area was granted to the government by Mrs. Vanderbilt after Mr. Vanderbilt’s death, as the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest, and 1,500 acres were allotted for development of the Biltmore Forest Country Club and the Town of Biltmore Forest. The estate, with its 17 miles of paved and macadam roads, and 120 miles of equestrian trails and earth roads, gives employment to more than 500 people, the greater number of these being engaged in the operation of the Biltmore Dairy Farms and kindred activities. The Biltmore herd of some 1200 pure-bred Jerseys is one of the largest, and is recognized as one of the finest, in the country.