The biltmore historic mansion

It's interesting:
"Sometimes people get upset when their friend gets married, especially if they don’t know the bride too well. Well, the way I see it – today I’m not losing one friend to marriage, but gaining one instead. And, if you look over at our college friends sitting at table 9, it’ll highlight how nice it will be for us to gain a new member of the crew, a new best friend, especially one who clearly bathes regularly."

Biltmore House is the largest private home in the United States. It stands in its own estate near Asheville, North Carolina. It was built in the late 19th century for George Washington Vanderbilt, a member of a vastly wealthy family with investments in railroads and shipping. Today the house remains owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, but the estate is run as a commercial enterprise, including shopping, a winery, a farm and a restaurant.

1. Origins

   • George Vanderbilt commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a vast new house for him in the North Carolina countryside. Vanderbilt envisaged a relaxed country estate for family and friends. Hunt was inspired by the chateaux of 16th century France and designed a huge house in French Renaissance style.

   Construction

   • Construction of Biltmore House began in 1889. The house was to stand as the centerpiece of a vast area of gardens, farms and woodland. It was built on a scale befitting its surroundings- the four-story building had a 780-foot-high faç-ade. When it was finished in around 1902, the structure of the house included around 11 million bricks, while the stone staircase linking the four floors had 102 steps. To build it, the estate had its own brickworks, woodworking shop and a three-mile-long railway spur to bring in supplies from outside.

   Facilities

   • As would be expected from a house built on such a scale, the facilities were second to none. The house included no less than 43 bathrooms--and this at a time when an indoor bathroom was still an unheard-of luxury for most people. The basement featured a swimming pool, a gymnasium, changing rooms and a bowling alley.

   Estate

   • The 125,000-acre estate was laid out by Frederick Law Olmstead, who had previously designed New York's Central Park. He included a three-mile-long approach road, a walled garden, an Italian garden, an azalea garden and America's first managed forest.

   Biltmore Today

   • Since George Vanderbilt's death, the house and its estate have remained the property of his descendants, although the estate now covers only 8,000 acres. The estate is a National Historic Landmark, but preserves itself solely through private funding. Visitors can tour the house and gardens to see the opulence of the Vanderbilts' lives at Biltmore.

Source: www.ehow.com

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