The 19th-Century US home that embodied the super-rich

George became isolated. Jenkins told the BBC: “He doesn’t necessarily fit into the Vanderbilt mold. He’s not very involved in New York society. He hasn’t taken over any of the business responsibilities for his family’s railway interests. But he started collecting from a really young age. And so we see in the evolution of the design of the house his travels, his education, his relationships with artists and art dealers.” A bookworm, George spent years traveling throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, collecting knowledge and works of art to bring back. Jenkins says Biltmore “ended up being an incredibly personal portrait of a man” who was involved in every detail of the project.

When George decided to build a house in a secluded area, far from Vanderbilt’s luxurious homes on Fifth Avenue in New York and Newport, Rhode Island, he hired Richard Morris Hunt, a famous architect who had built other European-sounding mansions for Vanderbilt relatives.

Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for designing New York’s Central Park, created a three-mile-long winding path that winds through Biltmore’s landscaped gardens, terraces, and grounds. The road was lined with trees and flowering bushes that hid the view of the house until suddenly at one bend it appeared. This was a strategy designed to create jaw-dropping surprises.

William Abranozic

Before Hunt began designing, he and George traveled around France together looking at 15th and 16th century castles. Biltmore’s exterior is particularly inspired by the eclectic Chateau de Blois. The side-by-side photographs in this book highlight the similarities of Renaissance Revival style with medieval elements. Mr. Hunt added a gargoyle based on his own face, like a private Easter egg. On other trips, George bought 300 rugs at a time in London and sent back plants and palms from Cairo for the Biltmore’s winter garden. But he added modern technology throughout the house. A grand central staircase is located next to a narrow elevator, the first of its kind in a private house.