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“Then it all stopped abruptly,” he wrote of ed’s creative genius in the use and rehabilita-
the continual construction work in his book tion of land that would set the estate apart.”
“Lady on the Hill.”
Longstreth similarly was wowed: “When
“It was said that Vanderbilt refused — or you go through that lengthy procession, it’s
was simply unable — to pour more cash into like being in a park. The experience is part of
the estate that had consumed perhaps as the whole thing,” he said.
much as half of his entire fortune.”
For those making their first visit to Biltmore
Vanderbilt died suddenly in 1914 at 51, from filled with anticipation, those first few miles
complications following an emergency ap- through the century-old man-made fairy land
pendectomy, leaving the estate to his widow, truly show that “the past is prologue.” 3u
Edith, who remarried Rhode Island Sen. Peter
Gerry in 1925. Vanderbilt is interred in the
family mausoleum on Staten Island in New
York. IF YOU GO

Leaving nearby Asheville, the tree-lined The Biltmore Estate is located in Asheville,
road to Biltmore, past the estate’s imposing N.C., and is open every day. Hours and prices
gate, takes visitors through Olmsted’s suc- of admission vary by season. Reservations
cessive landscapes. It’s a twisting, turning are required on many days to tour the house
course that makes the approach seem much because of the large number of visitors. A
longer than the reality. At its finale, the house comprehensive website, Biltmore.com, lists
and its magnificent front lawn burst on the admission prices, activities that include an ex-
scene, not dead ahead, but at a right angle, tensive Christmas holiday program and outdoor
forcing all, like a military salute, to quickly go concerts, and specialized tours of the house
“eyes right.” and grounds. Accommodation on the grounds
include the Village Hotel, the Inn at Biltmore
That is a theme that Covington notes as Estate and the Cottage.
well. “A hundred years later, Hunt’s mansion Photos courtesy of The Biltmore Company
would leave visitors in awe, but it was Olmst-

Biltmore fall facade from the Lagoon

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