Four Men Who Built
Bilfimore Estute
Vanderbilt chose the famous masters
of Ills «fay to create “the most beau¬
tiful country house in America.”
In 1888 George Washington Van¬
derbilt, II. happened to be traveling
through western North Carolina. From
Asheville he looked across the valley
to Mount Pisgah. He was impressed
with the calm and peaceful beauty of
the sight, and it was then that he began
to dream of a great barony; a palatial
residence, surrounded by many thou¬
sands of acres of beautiful woodland.
It did not take long for the dream
to be turned into a reality. The mam¬
moth undertaking was begun, and be¬
fore the wondering eyes of the moun¬
tain people of Buncombe County there
began to rise a great chateau with over
forty master bedrooms and so many
other rooms that no one bothered to
count them. The Court of Palms alone
would hold any other residence in
North Carolina.
Famous as this mansion and estate
have been for many years, there are
comparatively few people who know
about the four famous men who were
responsible for the building and the
landscaping of this outstanding show-
place. They were George Washington
Vanderbilt, II, Richard M. Hunt, Fred¬
erick Law Olmsted and Gifford Pin-
chot.
George Washington Vanderbilt, II,
was a grandson of the famous Cor¬
nelius Vanderbilt and son of the
equally celebrated moneymaker, Wil¬
liam Henry Vanderbilt. George was
shy and studious. He was much more
interested in agriculture, forestry, for¬
eign languages and architecture than
in business. He longed for a place
where he could exert himself as he
wished in these fields of interest. West¬
ern North Carolina was the land of
his dreams. There he would build the
finest country home, forest, garden and
farm in America. To aid him he called
upon the best architect, landscape
gardener, and forester that could be
Richard Hunt was a pioneer in the field of architecture, and Biltmore Estate a magnificent climax
of his distinguished career.
i a
George Vanderbilt II dreamed of a great barony
surrounded by thousands af acres af lovely wood¬
lands and gardens. Frederick Olmsted and Gif¬
ford Pinchat laid the foundations far gardens and
forests which are among the most beautiful in
the world.
found in the United States — Hunt,
Olmsted, and Pinchot. Each was a pio¬
neer in his field and their work has
never been surpassed. In 1889 Vander¬
bilt began buying land south of Ashe¬
ville, and soon the four men were busy
making the dream of a forest barony
come true.
The Architect
Richard Morris Hunt came from an
outstanding New England family, His
father was a member of Congress, and
his brother, William Morris Hunt, was
the famous American artist who is most
responsible for making the work of
Millet, Corot, and Rousseau known to
Americans. Richard began his archi¬
tectural career as an inspector of con¬
struction of the Louvre and the Tuil-
eries in Paris when Napoleon III
determined to enlarge those historic
buildings. The year 1 855 found him in
Washington where he worked as a
draftsman on additions being made to
the national capitol. A few years later
a certain Dr. Parmly used plans drawn
by this young architect to build his
home, refusing to pay his fee for the
drawings. The famous suit which re¬
sulted did much to establish architec¬
ture in the United States as a recog¬
nized profession.
In 1873 Morris drew the plans for
the Tribune Building in New York.
This was the first office building in the
U. S. with an elevator. The central
THE STATE. AUSUST 15, I9SB
