The Four Men Who
Built Biltmore
Tlic* pari tliev played in lliis gigantic
undertaking is just as interesting as
is the wonderful mansion and estate
which has been admired by millions
of people.
By DANIEL HI. HIcFARLAND
IN 1888 George Washington
Vanderbilt. II, happened to be
traveling through western North
Carolina. From Asheville he looked
across the valley to Mount Pisgah.
Me 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
thousands of acres of beautiful
woodland.
It did not take long for the dream
to be turned into a reality. The
mammoth undertaking was begun,
and before the wondering eyes of
the mountain 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 es¬
tate 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 Vander¬
bilt. II. Richard M. Hunt. Freder¬
ick Law Olmsted and GifTord
Pinchot.
George Washington Vanderbilt,
II, was a grandson of the famous
Cornelius Vanderbilt and son of
the equally celebrated money¬
maker. William Henry Vanderbilt.
George was shy and studious. He
was much more interested in
agriculture, forestry, foreign lan¬
guages and architecture than in
business. He longed for a place
where he could exert himself as
he wished in these fields of interest.
Western 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 found in the United States—
Hunt, Olmsted, and Pinchot. Each
was a pioneer in his field and their
work has never been surpassed.
In 1889 Vanderbilt began buying
land south of Asheville, and soon
the four men were busy making
the dream of a forest barony come
true.
Richard Morris Hunt came from
an outstanding New England
family. His father was a member
of Congress, and his brother. Wil¬
liam 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 architectural career as
an inspector of construction of the
Louvre and the Tuileries in Paris
when Napoleon III determined to
enlarge those historic buildings.
The year 1855 found him in Wash¬
ington 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 archi¬
tect to build his home, refusing to
pay his fee for the drawings. The
famous suit which resulted did
much to establish architecture in
the United States as a recognized
profession.
In 1873 Morris drew the plans
for the Tribune Building in New
York. This was the first elevator
office building. The central part of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the base of the Statue of
Liberty in New York are his work.
The Biltmore climaxed Hunt’s
career. To this day this product of
his drafting board is recognized as
the most magnificent country-
house in America.
Frederick Law Olmsted is well-
known in several fields. Before
the War Between the States he
traveled a great deal in the South.
His descriptions of the South in
the New York Times later appeared
as The Colton Kingdom, and this
writing is still recognized by
historians as one of the best works
on the ante-bellum South. Soon
after his trips to the South he
began plans for Central Park in
New York, and that park today is
a product of his engineering. When
war broke out in 1861, Olmsted
went to Washington to become
general secretary of the United
States Sanitary Commission, the
forerunner of the American Red
Cross.
After the war Olmsted went to
California for a few years. While
there he drew some of the early
plans for Yosemite Park and
designed the grounds of the new
University of California at
Berkeley. In 1874 he was commis¬
sioned to design the grounds of
the United States Capitol at Wash¬
ington. Prospect Park in Brooklyn
and Franklin Park in Boston are
also his work. During the last six
years of his life he centered his
attention on Biltmore (with time
out to plan the grounds for the
Chicago World’s Fair of 1893). At
Biltmore macadamized roads were
built under his direction, parks
were laid out. a village for the
hundreds of employees was built,
and an arboretum of many
specimens was planned.
Both Hunt and Olmsted were
near the end of their careers when
called to Biltmore by Vanderbilt,
but Pinchot was still in his
twenties. In spite of his youth,
Pinchot was already the best-
THE STATE. September 24. 1949
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