Behind the Scenes at the Biltmore

Constructed between 1889 and 1895, the Biltmore is located outside of Asheville, North Carolina, and open to visitors 365 days a year.

The Biltmore’s Italian garden. The landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted and George Vanderbilt worked closely together to design the Estate’s winding approach road, formal walled gardens, picturesque retreats, reflecting ponds, and sublime tracts of planned woodlands.

The conservatory.

In 1898, three years after moving in at Biltmore, George married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser. Their daughter, Cornelia, was born in 1900.

The Claude room—one of 35 bedrooms.

Tapestry gallery and Vanderbilt family photos on display.

Formal photo portrait of young George Vanderbilt.

The third floor living hall is the best place to find examples of inherited finery and, in some cases, repurposed objects brought to Biltmore from Vanderbilt properties in the northeast, including display cabinets and bookcases built by Herter Brothers for George’s father at 640 Fifth Avenue in New York City (now demolished).

The winter garden in the Biltmore House.

The tapestry gallery.

Oak Sitting room.

Louis XV room.

The salon.

When Biltmore opened in 1895, it boasted electricity, instant hot water, central heating, two elevators, refrigeration, an elaborate call system, and a brand-new invention—the telephone.

A dumbwaiter in the main kitchen.

Nearly every room in the Biltmore has a servant call button. Here is the butler pantry’s call box.