1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from house 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm a Candas and Candis and 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: I are going to be talking about one of our 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: favorite historical homes today. Um. It reminded me a lot 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: of the Hearst Castle episode recorded about a year ago. 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: It's really fun to talk about these amazing palaces, I think, 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: and even interesting homes that have intriguing stories behind them, 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: like when we did in an old vintage podcast about 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: the Winchester Mystery House. Sometimes it's the people behind the 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 1: home that make for the great story. Yeah, and if 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: you've been there and seeing some of the rooms they 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: lived in, it really adds a lot to, I don't know, 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: to your understanding of them. So the house will be 15 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: talking about today is built More Estate, which is nestled 16 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. And if you've 17 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: never been, you really have to go to understand why 18 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: it is so proudly and majestically referred to as America's 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: largest home trademark trademark. That's um, yeah, I mean it 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: is amazing place. It's got four acres of floor space. 21 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: It has two D and fifty rooms. That's thirty four bedrooms, 22 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: forty three bathroom. Don't try to use any of those, No, No, 23 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: And I think people try to get a peek at 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: the bathrooms. You can't really see them, though. They have 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: a mirror set up that you can get just the 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: tiniest reflection of one. It also has sixty five fireplaces, 27 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: and it was one of the first homes built that 28 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: had electricity and underfloor heating, plus elevators. And the basement 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: level is so fascinating. It's got an indoor bowling alley, pool, gymnasium, 30 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: locker room, slash, changing areas and that's also where the 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: kitchen and the servants quarters are too. Even changing areas 32 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: that does not sound like it would be particularly interesting, 33 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: but we're talking about twenty male changing rooms, twenty female 34 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: changing room, the guests. Yeah, everything about this house is 35 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: opulent in every way. So okay, But to understand the house, 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: we have to understand the family that built it and 37 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: understand their whole history, which is quite a long one. 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: And this is of course the illustrious Vanderbilt family, which 39 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: originally they came from Holland. There the Vanderbilts, Like, I 40 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: just think that's a great They should have stuck with that, 41 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: I think. I agree, vanderbuilt university. What if they more exciting, 42 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: I think so. So they came to America from Holland 43 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: in the late sixteen hundreds. But for a really long time, 44 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: for many generations, they were just this successful, but modestly 45 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: living farming family, you know, not not the ostentatious um 46 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: family that they eventually became. It wasn't until Cornelius Vanderbilt, 47 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: who's better known as Commodore Vanderbilt, that the family really 48 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: rose to great heights. And he built his fortune in 49 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: steamships and railroads and had thirteen children with his wife. 50 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: So when he died in eighteen seventy seven, he had 51 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: a fortune of one hundred million dollars, which I mean 52 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: that's for the time, quite considerable today. Um. And so 53 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: when he died, he left the majority of that fortune 54 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: to his eldest son, William Henry. He kind of considered 55 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: some of his younger son's waste rolls, and he thought 56 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: that William Henry would be the only one who could 57 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: carry on the family business, and he did very successfully. 58 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: He continued to build upon the family fortune. And while 59 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: William Henry was active on the business scene, his wife 60 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: was working the social angle because the Vanderbilts were still 61 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: considered new money, so she was helping to build the 62 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: family prestige. Yeah, a lot of the old money in 63 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: New York society was continuing to snub the Vanderbilts. If 64 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: you've ever read The Age of Innocence, you have pretty 65 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: good sense of of how this would go down. So 66 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: the Vanderbilts commissioned this amazing mansion on Fifth Avenue. It's 67 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: going to have fifty nine rooms, was built in eighty one, 68 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: and it could hold their huge art collection. And during 69 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: this time, Vanderbilt children, all sorts of cousins are building 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: these amazing mansions in Rhode Island in New York. It's really, uh, 71 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: it's building time for this family to vanderbilding time. Yes, 72 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: I think so. They're definitely cementing their place in society. Um. 73 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: At the time, this Fifth Avenue house seems pretty grotesque 74 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: to some people. Louis H. Sullivan called it a contradiction, 75 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: an absurdity, a characteristically New York absurdity. But it set 76 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: a certain style and it caught on with the rest 77 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: of society. Suddenly the Vanderbilts were in now and during 78 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: this time, during the construction of this mansion, we have 79 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 1: George Washington Vanderbilt growing up. He was the youngest child 80 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: of eight William Henry's children, and he was born in 81 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two, and he was the only kid who 82 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: was still living at home when the Fifth Avenue Palace 83 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: was completed. So I mean he grew up with construction. 84 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: He grew up with palaces and opulence. I think it 85 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: definitely affected his later life, as we will see. And 86 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: even though young George was doted upon by his parents, 87 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: he was definitely a family favorite. He was very much 88 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: unlike his brothers, who were more invested in the family business. 89 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: George was interested in books. He started collecting them when 90 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: he was a boy, and when he was twelve years old, 91 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: actually he started noting all the titles of the books 92 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 1: that he had read. And when he died, he had 93 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: noted more than three thousand, one fifty nine centuries of books. 94 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: And Sarah did the math, and that averages out to 95 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: eighty one books a year. He died at only fifty one, 96 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: so I mean, I can't even imagine how many books 97 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,479 Speaker 1: he would have read if he had lived another twenty 98 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: thirty years. And you may be thinking that an awful 99 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: lot of time for reading. But he was the original 100 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: man of leisure. He had nothing to do but invest 101 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: himself in his studies. He learned all kinds of foreign languages, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, 102 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, Hebrew sanscrit and even later some 103 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: different Native American languages. Yeah, and he studied art. He 104 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: read a lot of philosophy. He was very interested in traveling. 105 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: I mean, of course, all the Vanderbilts are visiting Europe, 106 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: but he would tour Asia and Africa as well. And 107 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: he used these travels to of course collect art and 108 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: interesting pieces for his Fifth Avenue home, but also a 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: lot of books. He ends up with a library of 110 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 1: twenty three thousand volumes. So I mean, this is a 111 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,919 Speaker 1: very learned man. He's not formally educated, but he was 112 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: privately tutored and obviously spends all of his free time reading. 113 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: He's he's intelligent, and he knows that he's going to 114 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: be taken care of for the rest of his life, 115 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: even though he does have a considerably smaller share in 116 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: the family fortune than his elder brothers. But he's gonna 117 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: be all right. He's set, and when he comes of 118 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: a certain age, he realizes that he needs his own 119 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: mansion to call his own. When he's traveling to North Carolina, 120 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: he saw Asheville and had a winter resort reputation, so 121 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: he went there to scope it out, and he realizes 122 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: that this is where he wants to build his mansion, 123 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: and it seems like a bit of an odd choice, 124 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: the mountains of North Carolina, when most of his family 125 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: is situated in cities further north. The Rhode Island is 126 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: their country spot sort of. But he realizes that he 127 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: can buy tons of land and build an empire for himself, 128 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: so in eight and eighties he starts his buying spree. Yeah, 129 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: this is a strange little fact, and I couldn't find 130 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: it online, but I remember it from some of the 131 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: literature at the house itself. But a currently, once local 132 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: landowners got wind of a Vanderbilt coming around buying up land, 133 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: they started holding out for a little bit more so 134 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: they'd have sort of a broken down barn or farm 135 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: house and a few acres surrounding it, and they would 136 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: hold out Vanderbilt came along and paid a pretty penny 137 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: for it because very smart. He didn't want this old 138 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: farm in the middle of the now. But by eight 139 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: eighty nine he was ready to start construction on the house. 140 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: And he didn't just hire any old architect to do it. 141 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: He hired Richard Morris Hunt, who by this point had 142 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: a famous reputation for building these mansions for these elite 143 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: New York families. He had also built the New York 144 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: Tribeane Building, which at one point was the tallest building 145 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: in the world. So, yeah, this is a top notch 146 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: architect to hire for your estate. After six years of construction, 147 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt decides that the home is ready to be opened officially, 148 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: officially open in its current condition, but it's never really 149 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: finished and we're going to talk more about that a 150 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: little bit later. But you couldn't see that money eventually 151 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,079 Speaker 1: just ran out. There are rooms that are undone, there 152 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: were rooms that were conceptualized but never completed. Uh. One 153 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: of the biggest features of the house, the Grand Oregon, 154 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: is actually artificial facause fake pipes. He didn't have the 155 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: money to buy real pipes, and um, you can still 156 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: see an unfinished room at the house today. To give 157 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: you an idea of what the house would have been like. 158 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: So it was kind of like one of those beautiful 159 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: Faberge eggs. It's gorgeous and ornate on the outside, but 160 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: maybe on the inside. You open it and it's hollow spots, 161 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: hollow spots, right yeah, but I mean in people didn't 162 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: know that yet. It seemed likely to be completed, and 163 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 1: it was amazing and opulent. And he named it built 164 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: More from Built, which was the ancestral home of the 165 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt and more comes from the word like for rolling uplands, 166 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: so it's a nice estate name. He's got all this land, 167 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,599 Speaker 1: and because it's so remote at the time, the construction 168 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: of it is pretty unbelievable. I mean, they have to 169 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: build a three mile railroad spur just to get all 170 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: of the supplies. They're all that Indiana limestone. They have 171 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: to build a brick works on site. Um. So it's 172 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: its own little city, and actually there is a city 173 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: attached to it, right. He always envisioned the chateau is 174 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: an operating, working estate, and the dairy on the Biltmore 175 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: grounds became largely successful, and that was what was the 176 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: now unintended cash cow for several years for the family. Yeah, 177 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: so should we talk about the estate a little bit. 178 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: I mean, to get a real picture of it, you 179 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: you do need to go there, or at least go online. 180 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: There's a virtual tour you can sort of walk through 181 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: these rooms. But I mean, what's your favorite part of it, Candice, 182 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: I would have to say the basement level. It's so 183 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: fascinating to me, and that didn't open until the nineteen eighties. 184 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: But down there you can see the kitchen and the pantry, 185 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: and that's always so fascinating to me. I like seeing 186 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,559 Speaker 1: how people cooked in the olden days. And the swimming 187 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: The swimming pool is really fascinating to see. There's no 188 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: water in it, so you can see all of the 189 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: in late tile and the dramatic slope from the shallow 190 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: wind to the deep end and down there also is 191 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: the Halloween room, which I always thought was so cute 192 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: because Cornelia and her friends had transformed it when Halloween 193 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,959 Speaker 1: evening with these whimsical drawings on the walls. And I 194 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: thought that was adorable, thinking that they were very young children, 195 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: and come to find out, I think they went there 196 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 1: at late twenties or so when she did this, so 197 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: probably a champagne fueled party. How nice to be the 198 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: only child of George Vanderbilt. Yeah, I really like the 199 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: tapestry room upstairs has hung with all of these beautiful 200 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: Flemish tapestries, and I think at Christmas they actually set 201 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: out Christmas trees just every turn of every tapistry. Unbelievable 202 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: Christmas at Biltmore's. You just have to experience it. But 203 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: as impressive as the house is, I think the most 204 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: amazing thing about visiting is when you look outside and 205 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 1: you can't see anything but mountains, amazingly manicured grounds surrounding 206 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: you forest. I mean, you can't even see like a 207 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: watch tower, a fire watch tower off in the distance 208 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: or something. You feel like you're in a completely different time. 209 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: And that was a very important aspect of this manner 210 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: of state for Vanderbilt. He wanted it to be his 211 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: own private kingdom, almost and so he hired the number 212 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: one landscape designer in the country at the time, Frederick 213 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: law Olmstead, to make sure that he got the effect 214 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 1: he wanted. And if you've heard that name, it's because 215 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: alms Dead had to huge reputation at the time. He 216 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: had designed Central Park, he had worked on Prospect Park, 217 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: Faremont Park, belle Isle Park, and even the Capital Grounds 218 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: in d C. And he also contributed to turning Yosemite 219 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: into a public park. Yeah, and he was an old 220 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt friend too, so it's not too surprising that he 221 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: got called to this job. They were neighbors from Staten Island. Um, 222 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: so he's brought in pretty early before the construction even 223 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: starts in to consult and decide the master plan for 224 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: this estate. And he tells George that he thinks the 225 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: house should have nice formal gardens surrounding it that fit 226 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: with the style farms in the bottom lands by the river, 227 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: so it could, you know, really function as a self 228 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: sustaining its day exactly. And then forest, and they're nearly 229 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: one twenty five thousand acres of forest at at this 230 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: point at least, and a lot of it was cut over, 231 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:03,199 Speaker 1: so it's not pristine and beautiful. It's been chopped for farmland, 232 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: and a lot of the farmland was pretty worn out 233 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: by this point. And because Vanderbult was so interested in 234 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: preserving and conserving the land, he worked to renovate this 235 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: forest essentially. So Olmstead started the process by bringing in 236 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: for men who could call the existing forest, and this 237 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: essentially meant cutting down the trees that were unhealthy and 238 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: clearing space to replant new trees. And among the projects 239 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: in the forest, he also added three hundred acres of 240 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: white pine. Yeah, and he covered the whole project too, 241 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: because he knew that this was pretty significant research in 242 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: forestry and it might set a new standard, and Vanderbolt 243 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: was actually hoping to do just that. So Olmstead brought 244 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: on Gifford peen Show, who only left built more to 245 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: go on to head up the U. S. Forest Service. 246 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: So that gives you a pretty good idea of how 247 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: significant this project was. Um And in nineteen fourteen some 248 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: of the estate land was sold to make a national forest, 249 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: which is why you have those vistas today. It's still preserved. 250 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: In addition to the significant forest on built Mars estate, 251 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: there was also a model farm that was a working 252 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: farm and some of the hands who lived there would 253 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: raise Jersey cows and pedigree hogs, and Sarah had pointed 254 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: out that In Vanderbilt's New York Times obituary, the writer 255 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: noted that some of his prize hogs would sell for 256 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: five hundred to eight hundred dollars and that's in ninety 257 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: so I'm serious. But of course it's not all this 258 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: farmland and forested land. There are these very formal planned 259 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: gardens around the home and that's what Olmstead really worked 260 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: carefully on along with Richard Morris Hunt, and they step 261 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: to that French Renaissance theme of the home, which has 262 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: these exterior staircases and the limestone and the turrets and 263 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: it's it's very ornate and the gardens match that. And 264 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: we're not going to go over every garden again. You 265 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: can look at pictures and take your own tour, but 266 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: the approaches is kind of a significant part of it. 267 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: It's three miles long, and as soon as you pull 268 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: off the road you have just left everything else behind. 269 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: That's where your vision suddenly. You can't see the outside 270 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: buildings and everything like that. You're just on this little 271 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: road going through the forest. And I think it's interesting. 272 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: But Olmstead was almost trying to create a sub tropical 273 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: forest when he laid this out. He put in a 274 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: lot of bamboo just to make these northern visitors, you know, 275 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: these family members from New York and friends feel warm 276 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: and cozy here in Asheville which is not a not 277 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: a central it's cold, it's up in mountains, but he 278 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: figured out which plants could survive up there and live 279 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,640 Speaker 1: through the winter and put them in In addition to 280 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: the approach. Some other significant gardens that you should note 281 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 1: if and when you visit built more include the Italian Garden, 282 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: which features symmetrical pools and lawns and statues. And Olmsted 283 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: thought that this would be a place where the family 284 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: would gather outdoors to play tennis and to converse, maybe 285 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: to take their cocktails. Another garden was the shrub Garden, 286 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: which is not too exciting to me. It's it's shrubs, 287 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,120 Speaker 1: but five different species of them. Then the walled Garden, 288 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: which is where you can see a split between the 289 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 1: ideas of Vanderbilt and Olmsted almost thought an edible garden 290 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: would be old fashioned country ornamental garden, almost right. The 291 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt wanted it to be more ornate and showy, so 292 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,040 Speaker 1: it has plenty of flowers in there too. Yeah. And 293 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: then there's the Conservatory um, which of course is the 294 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: nurse for all of the grounds, and it's a pretty 295 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: interesting looking building itself too. Um. But you know, you 296 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: could you could spend ages, I think, just wandering around 297 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: looking at all these different gardens, even after you've left 298 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: the house. Despite the picturesque location and the attention and 299 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: time that had been devoted to constructing a beautiful chateau. 300 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: Uh As we had mentioned earlier, a lot of bill 301 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: warm was left unfinished. And perhaps I was too harsh 302 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: a critic earlier because I live in a two bedroom 303 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: condo and one bedroom is fully functioning and the other 304 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: one has a bunch of stuff in it and it 305 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: is not on display for guests. So I can completely 306 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: empathize with George Vanderbilt. He started this very ambitious two 307 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: fifty room project. It's understandable that some rooms would not 308 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: be open to the public. However, when you leave places unfinished, 309 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:59,239 Speaker 1: and you leave equipment around, and there's debris and and 310 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: workers coming in and out of your home, it's bound 311 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: to fall into disrepair. And that is exactly what happened 312 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: to build. More So, as Sarah mentioned, he abruptly stopped 313 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: work on the house. He'd been investing about two fifty 314 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 1: thousand dollars per year on maintenance and construction, and he 315 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: reduced his budget to seventy thousand dollars so that's a 316 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: significant cut. He came up with a few cost cutting solutions. 317 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: One was leasing out the land for hunting. Another was 318 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: selling off important pieces of art, putting in fake pipes, 319 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 1: putting in fake pipes. But unfortunately he couldn't figure out 320 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: a good budgetary plan before he died. So Edith, his widow, 321 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: was left to oversee the completion of the estate, and 322 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: one of her solutions, as Sarah said to, was to 323 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: sell off the forest land which contributed to Pisca National Forest. 324 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: But she was adamant about keeping fourteen thousand acres around 325 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: the home, and this was to ensure the family's privacy. 326 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: The Vantibiles were pretty serious about their privacy too, and 327 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: there started to be rumors that Edith would eventually sell 328 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: the house and turn it into some sort of hotel 329 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: and there you could stay in the built more where 330 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: the Vanderbilt slept. But Edith really loved the house, and 331 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: even though she had plenty of other homes around the country, 332 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: this one had a special place in her heart. After all, 333 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: it's the house her husband had so fully devoted himself to. 334 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: That's where she gave birth to her only child. Yeah, 335 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: she'd come back of her Christmas to give gifts to 336 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: the Built More employees. It was important to her and 337 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: she was starting to get sort of more of a 338 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: public role herself. She was uh launching a career in 339 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: North Carolina politics and society. And her daughter came of 340 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: age and married an Englishman, John Francis, Amherst Cecil in 341 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: n The wedding was that Built More. So that's another 342 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: important life event for this family that took place there. 343 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: But she really didn't want to have to sell it 344 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: off or turn it into a hotel or something like that. 345 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: She was looking for an alternative, definitely. The Vanderbilts never 346 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: gave up on Builtmore, and the Cecil's actually began living 347 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: at Builtmore and they took an apartment in a wing 348 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: on the north end of the home, but the majority 349 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: of the home stayed dark and it was still in 350 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: disrepair at this point because it was simply too big 351 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: to be maintained at their budget. And I was chatting 352 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: with Sarah earlier about this, and that just sounds like 353 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: terrible conditions for newly weds to be in a tiny 354 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: apartment can find in a very dark home, just kind 355 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: of scary, not really romantic. But John Cecil actually became 356 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: very attached to build more, and I think it spoke 357 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: to his English gentleman's sensibilities. He liked being in the country, 358 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: he liked hunting, he liked exploring the grounds, whereas Cornelia, 359 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: like her mother Edith, preferred life in the city. This 360 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: was really significant, Asheville had been pleasing with the Vanderbilts 361 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,960 Speaker 1: to open up built more for tourism to help offsette 362 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: some of the trouble that the country had been having 363 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: from the Great Depression. They thought that if Asheville could 364 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: have a spot for tourists to flock to, it really 365 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: helped the city, so they agreed to do so. Just 366 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: five per cent of the house was available for public viewing. 367 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: Tickets were two dollars, and that guaranteed that you could 368 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: see some highlights in the home like Napoleon's chest set 369 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:33,719 Speaker 1: and Cardinal Richelieu's flemished tapestries, which the massive library and 370 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: great works of art by the likes of John Singer Sergeant, 371 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: But it didn't have that sort of warmth and electricity 372 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,159 Speaker 1: that the home had when George and Edith were installed there. 373 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: Cornelia just didn't have that sense to her. She was 374 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: not a natural hostess. Uh, But we think that maybe 375 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: her guarded nous was what created the mystery around the 376 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: home and made it even more attractive to the tourists 377 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: who wanted to see it, because before the Secil's publicly 378 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: opened it, it had been totally off limits. On Wednesday 379 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: and Saturday afternoons, you could drive the grounds and if 380 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: the family was not at home, you could approach the facade, 381 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 1: but if they were anywhere on property, you would just 382 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: stay completely away. Yeah, I mean, even the Queen offers 383 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: a better deal than that or some of her home. 384 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:24,360 Speaker 1: So then something pretty major happened in this whole house history. 385 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: The Cecil's divorced and John stayed at the bill More 386 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: because it, just as we mentioned earlier, it appealed to 387 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: him as an Englishman, and Cornelia was happier in the city, 388 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: so that's where she went. But John's propriety, this englishness 389 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: about him, had a very influential effect on the whole 390 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: tone of the house. He sort of set the propriety right, 391 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: and he would have grown up in a country where 392 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: people toward his storic homes and just let themselves in 393 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: and took them. Rambled about tours and rambled about that's 394 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: how things were done in England and even in some 395 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,199 Speaker 1: other European countries, and so that's how he thought that 396 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: things should be done at built More, and that was 397 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: a mentality that was passed down to his son William. 398 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: So the house continues to be in pretty dismal state. 399 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,919 Speaker 1: And not only that, but Cornelia is taking pieces of 400 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: furniture and art to furnish her apartments elsewhere in the country. 401 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: Uh So John's doing what he can to make it 402 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: look presentable, which means polishing wood, oiling, leather, replacing curtains. 403 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: But there's just no money. And so of their two children, 404 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,120 Speaker 1: George and William, George is given a hand in the dairy, 405 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 1: the built More dairy, which, as we mentioned, with those 406 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: really high press hogs, is pretty profitable at the time. 407 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: But William is strangely fascinated by the house, and he 408 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: is a determined young man and he really thinks that 409 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 1: he can make a profit from built More. No one 410 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: believes that he can do so, and William cecil even 411 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: once said I was made painfully aware that the future 412 00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: was drab, and while I might be a fifty percent 413 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: stockholder of the company, the only thing of value other 414 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: than the contents of the house with the dairy. So 415 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: thus begins the age of William Cecil trying to make 416 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: this house that he was going to inherit into a 417 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,919 Speaker 1: profitable business, something he wouldn't just lose or have to 418 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: sell off. And he did it by new built more 419 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: tourism and employment contributed three hundred and fifty million dollars 420 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 1: to the local economy of Asheville. Um. So it worked. 421 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: It worked. It took a long time and a lot 422 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: of experimentation and a lot of different efforts, some of 423 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: which worked and which failed miserably. But before I go 424 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,320 Speaker 1: further into this, I just want to stop and recommend 425 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: a book called Lady on the Hill by Howard E. Covington, Jr. 426 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: Which is where I did most of my research for 427 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: what I'm about to tell you. It's a fabulous book. 428 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: William Amhurst Vanderbilt Cecil is an interesting character. He's he's 429 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 1: lovable as that stadio British type who wants everything done 430 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: his way. But that's okay because his way is really 431 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: successful and his ideas are really good. And he had 432 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: a couple of ideas about your responsibility when you live 433 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: on a big estate, you have to preserve it, you 434 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,719 Speaker 1: have to improve it, and you have to leave it 435 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: in improved condition than what it was when it was 436 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: handed to you. And he's also famous for saying, I 437 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: don't preserve built more to make a profit. I make 438 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: a profit to preserve built More. That saying is plastered 439 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: around Built everywhere, everywhere. So here's the history as to 440 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: how he made built more profitable. In the nineteen fifties, 441 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: this is when tourists in America are taking to the 442 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: highways in their cars, and Built Moore was in a 443 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: competitive region in North Carolina. Cherokee had just been established 444 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: and you may be familiar with the famous outdoor drama 445 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: under these Hills that launched around that era there. And 446 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: then nearby Grandfather Mountain had just built a swinging bridge, 447 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: so people were going to the Indian Reservation and then 448 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,640 Speaker 1: they were going to see the mountains that not all 449 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 1: of them made it to this historic home, but those 450 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: who did in this time could literally park their cars 451 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: right outside built marsh front door. And there are pictures 452 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: of this. And it's so strange because today if you 453 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: visited or you play a visit, you know that you 454 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: have to park way far away and you're shuttled in 455 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: by bus to the front door. You just hike through 456 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: this little path in the woods. Yes, it's uh, I 457 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,159 Speaker 1: mean again partly maintaining that majesty of the approach. I 458 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: think keeping the station wagons out of the front lawn 459 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: doesn't look as nice. And what else are how Bolster 460 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: built Moore's reputation during this time is that it became 461 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: a focal point of a major Hollywood movie that Sarah 462 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: talked about in an earlier podcast. Yeah, the Swan with 463 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness, which was filmed in nineteen 464 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: and it played an important role in our Princess Grace 465 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: marriage wedding episode. Um, but that helped so much and tourism. 466 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: Tourism shot up third percent after people went out and 467 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 1: saw this movie and saw this beautiful facade in these 468 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: lovely grounds. And that's what bothered William Cecil is that 469 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,880 Speaker 1: the Hollywood sparkle wasn't the reality. The house was still 470 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: in shambles except for what the tourists could see. It 471 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: was structurally sound, but the carpets for threadbare, the flags 472 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: in the banquet hall were falling apart, and no money 473 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: had really been invested in it since nineteen fifteen, So 474 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 1: Cecil was determined to make it profitable, to get something 475 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: out of it, And he was somewhat of an outsider 476 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,479 Speaker 1: among a lot of the staff, which their local people 477 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: who have lived there most of their lives. He has 478 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: this English accent. He was educated as at Harvard, as 479 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: you mentioned earlier, Um, and he calls himself quote a 480 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: New York banker corrupted by Washington. So he's gonna he's 481 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: gonna stand and stand out. And not only was he 482 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: an outsider at Builtmore, but he was also an outsider 483 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: in the realm of historic sites because he didn't approve 484 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: of period costumes and petting zoos like the kind you 485 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: would find in colonial Williamsburg. And Builtmore wasn't considered to 486 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: have the same historic and educational clout as a city 487 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: like Charleston. It was entirely in its own category. And 488 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: not to mention, after all those years, it was still 489 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 1: privately owned. Yeah, So when Interstate forty came through in 490 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties, more people were coming to Asheville than ever, 491 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: and Cecil wanted to make sure that they definitely came 492 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: by Built More. His first few years in the house, 493 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: Built More only had three thousand visitors annually, and most 494 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: of those visitors came during the summer months when they 495 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: could tour the beautiful grounds and have picnics and that 496 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: sort of thing. In the winter, a lot of times 497 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: nobody would come at all, which is so strange when 498 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: you think of Asheville's history as a winter tourist spot, 499 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: it seems like that would be the number one season 500 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: for them. But then consider stepping into a giant drafty 501 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: helm and you get an idea as to why it 502 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a exactly a welcoming site. So he had a 503 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: couple of strategies. One, he had to make cosmetic updates 504 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: to the home too. He had to change the way 505 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: the visitors would treated. He wanted them to be treated 506 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: like guests like his grandfather, George Vanderbilt might have treated them, 507 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: instead of them being pain tourists. And this is when 508 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: we see his old world model of country homes installed 509 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: a built more let people stroll and explore on their own. 510 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: He's not gonna put up do not touch signs. He's 511 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: just gonna block off areas very subtly with a velvet rope. 512 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: That's how his grandfather would have wanted it, and when 513 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: they were coming to build more in the nineteen fifties, 514 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: they were still following this nineteen thirties era tour that 515 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: had been set up when Cornelia and John Cecaul first 516 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: opened the home. So they just saw a couple of 517 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,520 Speaker 1: rooms downstairs and upstairs. And so he thought that he 518 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 1: had to show more of the house in order to 519 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,240 Speaker 1: give people a reason to come back to build more, 520 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: because a lot of people would come once, say they've 521 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: seen it, and then never return, and that was bad business. 522 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: So he didn't encourage guided tours though this wasn't This 523 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: wasn't like touring some bunker or civil war site where 524 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: you have your reenactor who tells you everything you need 525 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: to know. But there were still people on site to 526 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: answer questions, you know, friendly docents around every corner. And 527 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: he also put a stop to a lot of the 528 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: old house myths that had been going along, like Vanderbilt 529 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: supposedly had Julius Caesar's bathtub installed, not true. He wanted 530 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: the house to to stand on its own merits, not 531 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: be some lie. Essentially, another thing he did that really 532 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:42,720 Speaker 1: increased tourism was to reconsider advertising prior to see still 533 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: taking over management. At built Moore, the advertising budget was 534 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: one thousand dollars per year. By the nine sixties he'd 535 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 1: increase that to nine thousand dollars. He ran a gardening 536 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: column in the local paper written by Builtmore gardeners from 537 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: their point of view. He created this fant has to 538 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: add campaign about Alice who was a curious visitor, and 539 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: the Mountain Queen, and these became very popular ads. And 540 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: he also planned event to draw people year round. Uh 541 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: In the warmer months he had the Zelia Festival to 542 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: combat the drop in tourism, and the in the cold 543 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: winter months, he had Christmas at built More. By attendance 544 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: was at thousand, and previously it had hovered around thirty 545 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: five thousand. Yeah, and with the oil crisis in the seventies, 546 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: he took it up another notche even to really bring 547 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 1: in visitors. He finished the music room and the salon 548 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: on the ground floor, and he hired North Carolina builders 549 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 1: to do all the work so it was authentic and 550 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: helping the local economy. And his rebuilding projects kind of 551 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: threw off preservationists, though it didn't always seem to fit 552 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: the model they were used to write. Preservationists by definition 553 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: like to preserve spaces and history as they were. But 554 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: his philosophy always was this is how George Vanderbilt would 555 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: have wanted it. He would have wanted a clean and 556 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: opulent space to show his visitors, not faded tapestries and 557 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: something that looks like it's been sitting for decades. Now 558 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: certainly not so. After about twenty years managing the home, 559 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 1: he's able to make a substantial profit. Now it's about 560 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: three point five million dollars, and that's not just from 561 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: ticket sales. He realized that food is a valuable asset. 562 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: He realized that he could make a significant amount of 563 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: money from selling food and selling souvenirs and that sort 564 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: of thing. All this all the stuff that tourists like. 565 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: And in fact, he once even said that um tourists 566 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: every twenty minutes stopped to eat something, buy something, or 567 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: use the bathroom. I think that plays into your stodgy 568 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,959 Speaker 1: English from the descriptions. And to that end, he served 569 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: the tourist's best interests. He built more public restroom, he 570 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 1: installed air conditioning in the home, built more restaurant, sold 571 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: him ice cream. Uh. And one of the things that 572 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 1: he did that wasn't too popular at first was he 573 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: opened a winery at Builtmore. This was his concept of 574 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: built More by the bottle, and he didn't even have 575 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,280 Speaker 1: a license to sell alcohol when he first started experimenting, 576 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: so it was a doomed project from the start that 577 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: took a long time to get off the ground. Yeah, 578 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: I mean, you can't just jump into the wine business 579 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: and expect a lot of success. But eventually he realized, 580 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:33,359 Speaker 1: and eventually the winery turned a profit too. Yeah. He 581 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,759 Speaker 1: hired Frenchman Philippe Jordan to come in and oversee the 582 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: project from scratch, and that was in And here's something 583 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,360 Speaker 1: to give you an idea of just how far Built 584 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: Moore had come at this point. In three he made 585 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: the executive decision to construct a winery on the site 586 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: where the dairy barn had once stood, which was the 587 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:58,239 Speaker 1: old moneymaker exactly. Uh. So he builds his winery and 588 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 1: it turns its first profit around two thousand four, So 589 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: good job, Cecil. I would venture to say that the 590 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: winery with Cecil's last big project, Built Moore had its 591 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: centennial celebration, and at the end of the celebration he 592 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: handed over the reins to his son Bill. But he 593 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: couldn't actually hand over the house. He couldn't actually hand 594 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:23,719 Speaker 1: over the house. You're right about that. This is a 595 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,799 Speaker 1: sticky part of Biltmore's history. Uh, he owns the home 596 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,279 Speaker 1: and he's been petitioning the government for several years for 597 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,280 Speaker 1: a little bit of help with that sticky inheritance tax 598 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: issue because it's going to be a huge burden on 599 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,360 Speaker 1: his children when one day they inherit the home. So 600 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: we don't know what will happen if the built More 601 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: will become a federal state historical site or kids will 602 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:51,279 Speaker 1: try to keep it in the family. And to that end, 603 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 1: the family has been really proactive about branding the home. 604 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,239 Speaker 1: These days, you can buy built More wine, built More 605 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: brand towels, cookbooks, food, wood, ornaments. Even outside the on 606 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,280 Speaker 1: site retail shops, you can get build More branded things. 607 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: So there's a ton of money in this home and 608 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,760 Speaker 1: then the reputation that it has, and we can see 609 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: in the years since Cecil has stepped down and let 610 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: Bill manage the home, a couple of non Cecil things 611 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,600 Speaker 1: have been implemented, and there's a petting zoo, there are 612 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,200 Speaker 1: a couple of period costumes now and it's become more 613 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: of a recreational destination. You can bicycle it Built More, 614 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: you can go fishing. Uh, you can even take tours 615 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:37,320 Speaker 1: down the river on a little float. So yeah, it's 616 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: it's changed over the year. It's a different house than 617 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: what George envisioned, yet remarkably similar. For sure, I would 618 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,239 Speaker 1: say more welcoming for the modern times. Definitely, it's nice 619 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,960 Speaker 1: to have the A C and heat. I agree. I agree. 620 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,399 Speaker 1: And if you've never visited Built More again, you should go. Well. 621 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: I think that about wraps it up for our discussion 622 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,840 Speaker 1: on build More. But if you've ever visited and you 623 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: have favorite rooms or stories to tell us about, please 624 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: email us at history podcast at how stuff works dot com. 625 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 1: You can also find us on Facebook or on Twitter 626 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,240 Speaker 1: at mist in history. And we have an article about 627 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:19,200 Speaker 1: some other pretty interesting historical homes. Ten most expensive Houses. 628 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,719 Speaker 1: I don't know what does it have built More on it. 629 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:23,959 Speaker 1: I'm not sure. I don't think built were me the list. 630 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: It's again in its own category entyroom definitely, but still 631 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:29,840 Speaker 1: you should check it out. There's a lot of interesting 632 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,280 Speaker 1: and very expensive homes. You can find it by searching 633 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: for ten most Expensive Homes on our home page at 634 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: www dot house stuff works dot com. For more on 635 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics. Is that how Stuff 636 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: Works dot com, The House stuff Works dot com. My 637 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 1: phone app is coming soon. Get access to our content 638 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,799 Speaker 1: in a new way. Articles, videos, and more all on 639 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: the go. Check out the latest podcasts and blog post 640 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,680 Speaker 1: and see what we're saying on Facebook and Twitter. It's 641 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:16,279 Speaker 1: coming soon to iTunes, m