Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon
It is the epitome of Gilded Age splendor: the largest private home ever built in the United States, a French château graced with more than 50,000 priceless furnishings and objets d'art, set in an enchanting rural paradise, designed by America's foremost nineteenth-century landscape architect. A National Historic Landmark, George Vanderbilt's dream home welcomes visitors to experience its glorious past as well as its exciting future. Once described by David Rockefeller as a "white elephant," what makes Biltmore Estate as popular a destination as Monticello, Mount Vernon, and Colonial Williamsburg?
Lady on the Hill tells the inspiring story of the thirty-five-year effort to restore this fading beauty to her former glory—all without a penny of government funding or outside foundation grants. Central to this true-life tale of rebirth against the odds is George Vanderbilt's grandson William A. V. Cecil, a well-mannered, highly educated man who, when caught up in an idea, becomes a whirling dervish, generating enough energy and enthusiasm to motivate everyone around him. And, according to author Howard Covington Jr., Cecil gets a week's worth of ideas before he's done with his Monday morning shave.
In the late 1950s, attorneys, financial managers, and tax accountants were united in advising Cecil and his brother, George, to sell off the estate's 12,000 acres in order to create a suburban subdivision. Cecil quietly ignored this advice and came up with a better idea: over the next four decades, he would turn this down-at-the-heels mansion that was a drain on the family business into the most successful, privately preserved historic site in the United States, perhaps even the world.
Cecil succeeded beyond even his wildest dreams. Not only did he raise the money needed to begin and continue a painstaking, decades-long restoration of the house itself, but he also achieved a goal that even his grandfather had found elusive. He made Biltmore Estate a self-sustaining, working enterprise that included a vibrant tourist destination, a working winery and vineyard, and a farming operation; employed hundreds of people; and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy every year.
Lady on the Hill tells a lively tale of eccentric, upper-crust characters, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and one man's determination, innovation, loyalty, and stubborn persistence to succeed against the odds. It also provides a brilliant, if unorthodox, model for anyone involved with the preservation and restoration of a historic home.
"What William Cecil has accomplished at Biltmore Estate is one of the great preservation success stories of all time. He has set a high standard for what all historic house museums strive for: magnificently preserved buildings and grounds, engaging interpretation, and--perhaps most challenging of all--economic self-sufficiency. It is no surprise that Biltmore Estate is widely recognized as one of America's finest places to visit."
—Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
"Biltmore is a glorious national historic landmark that, through creative vision and entrepreneurial management, preserves and provides insight into a way of life in the early 1900s. Bill is the imaginative and multifaceted leader who has built this great monument to enrich his community. George and I admire his dedication and success."
—George and Abby Rockefeller O'Neill
"Bill Cecil and his team at Biltmore Estate have sure proved that they know how to build a successful business. They did it the old-fashioned way: embrace a bold idea that others said could not be done and--through commitment, determination, and hard work--bring it to life. Their achievement against the odds is inspiring, and their vision and perseverance are valuable lessons to us all."
—Don Logan, Chairman, Media & Communications Group, Time Warner
"If George Vanderbilt did nothing more than engage the two most prominent and storied designers of their time, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, to carry out his vision of a European estate in the southern Appalachians, he would have created an American icon. The beauty of the method by which the estate was executed and, even today, the meticulous attention to detail, in the presentation and care of the estate by William Cecil, have brought history to life."
—Gary J. Walters, Chief Usher, The White House
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Lord Rothschild ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1 A Centennial Celebration 1
2 George Vanderbilt's Dream 13
3 Edith Vanderbilt 37
4 Judge Adams 67
5 The National Gallery's Wartime Vault 95
6 A Curiosity or a Treasure 109
7 The Airport Fight 125
8 Homecoming 135
9 Mr. C 151
10 The Music Room 167
11 Presentation versus Preservation 183
12 Voice in the Wilderness 199
13 "Be Reasonable—Do It My Way" 213
14 Biltmore by the Bottle 235
15 Putting It Right 263
16 Lady on the Hill 291
Afterword by William A. V. Cecil 303
Notes 307
Index 319
