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Vanderbilt hired the best to build the best

George Washington Vanderbilt II, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted visited castles, estates and chateaus in England and France before drawing plans for the Biltmore House. [BILTMORE ESTATE]

By CAREY O'CAIN, Published: August 29, 2026

I recently read Denise Kiernan’s non-fiction bestseller, The Last Castle. Denise and her husband, Joe, live in Asheville. Ms. Kiernan is a fabulous writer. Her vast research is delivered in an almost poetic style, mesmerizing readers to the very conclusion. In The Last Castle, she recreates the origins of George Washington Vanderbilt II’s Biltmore House before the turn of the century.

The impetus for George and his widowed mother, Maria, to come to this area was the same reason that Charlestonians and Floridians migrated here. They came from sultry climates to the cool fresh mountain air to escape the oppressive heat and the effects of malaria, yellow fever and tuberculosis.

The railroads arrived in Hendersonville in 1879 and reached Asheville Station (the village of Best) in 1880. The Vanderbilts knew trains. George and Maria arrived in 1888 and soon brought with them the best and brightest in architecture and landscaping. The land that George acquired had been stripped of lumber and mostly stumps remained. When Frederick Law Olmsted was introduced to this barren property, he was less than impressed. After several trips with Vanderbilt and architect Richard Morris Hunt, Olmsted’s opinion drastically changed and he became increasingly captivated by the fertile land. George was a slight man who appeared weak. His mother was fighting the effects of malaria. Olmsted was in his late 60s at this time and soon declared the area “the healthiest on the continent.” This is a pretty strong statement from such a traveled individual.

Before Hunt began drawing his plans, Vanderbilt, Hunt and Olmsted ventured to Europe to visit estates and chateaus in England and France. They visited the Rothschild Manor in England and toured the Loire River Chateau district including Chateau de Blois, Chenonceau and Chambord. An interesting aside here is one of the reasons for the abundance of huge estates on the Loire. The river was very navigable by shallow vessels. Sailing ships could be pushed by the ocean surge and prevailing winds upstream with incoming tides, yet could freely float down the Loire on receding tides. Transportation of building materials was greatly improved, much like Vanderbilt’s ability to transport materials via locomotive in the 1880s.

What started as a residence of 6,500 square feet culminated in a castle of 175,000 square feet. Vanderbilt had originally quietly acquired 2,000 acres. The estate grew to 125,000 acres. By 1889 Hunt had finished the design plans and construction began.

Allow me to give you an idea of the talents assembled by Vanderbilt.

The architect Richard Morris Hunt was the first American to study at the esteemed Beaux Arts school in Paris. In the United States he cofounded the American Institute of Architects. He was an incomparable talent. Hunt commissioned Richard Sharp Smith as his onsite representative. Smith had a major influence next door in Hendersonville, too, as the designer, in 1905, of the building we now know as the Historic Courthouse.

Landscaper Fredrick Law Olmsted was as well-known as Hunt, having completed Central Park in NYC and would be involved with the Great White City on the Chicago waterfront celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus coming to America — the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Olmsted would spend time commuting between Chicago, Asheville and Pinehurst, N.C., with occasional visits to properties in Flat Rock.

With help from Olmsted and Hunt, Vanderbilt secured the best in forestry management, hiring Gifford Pinchot and then Carl Shenck, both pioneers in the creation of the U.S. Forest Service and the Biltmore Forestry School. Other masters involved included Guastavino, gardener Chauncey Beadle and painter John Singer Sargent.

I would like to insert a funny irony here about gardener Chauncey Beadle and the Biltmore House. A movie was made in 1979 titled “Being There.” The production used much of the Biltmore Estate for the setting. The movie is a satirical comedy starring Peter Sellers as Chauncey Gardner. This portrayal is nothing close to Chauncey Beadle but is a parody on life and the absurd connections with television. Please don’t miss “Being There,” one of Peter Sellers’s last movies.

Back to George: George Vanderbilt brought his new wife, Edith, to the mostly completed estate in the fall of 1898, ten years after his first vision. George was only 37, Edith was 26. She never loved the estate as much as George.

Olmsted had certainly changed his opinion of the property when he “thought George’s home could be on par with the greatest estates in England and Europe; where you could have people crossing the Atlantic to see it.”

And now, it is!

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Carey O’Cain, Hendersonville native, Hendersonville High School and Clemson graduate and Laurel Park mayor, has an insatiable thirst for southern Appalachian history. WTZQ began airing Carey’s “Broadly Speaking” feature — about the people, places and history of the French Broad River Valley — in March 2025. New episodes air at 8:15 a.m. Thursdays then at 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.