George Washington Vanderbilt was the youngest son of William Henry and Maria Louisa (Kissam) Vanderbilt. He was born on November 14, 1862, near New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.
Until the death of his widowed mother in 1896, he lived with her in her New York home.
George Washington Vanderbilt was educated mostly by private tutors, and spent much of his youth in touring the world with them.
He had studied architecture, forestry, and landscape gardening in preparation for it.
Vanderbilt worked with the architect, Richard Morris Hunt, on the plans, and superintended the construction of the building, the final cost of which was reported as $3, 000, 000. He spent millions more in improving the estate, which he named "Biltmore. " Frederick Law Olmsted was the landscape gardener.
He offered to sell the major portion of his forest land to the United States for a forest reserve, but the offer was not accepted until after his death when the government bought a large tract from Mrs. Vanderbilt. He died in Washington, D. C. , after an operation for appendicitis.
Vanderbilt became a scientific farmer and stockbreeder, as well as one of the pioneers in scientific forestry in America. His sales of pedigreed hogs came to be events of importance. One of his Jersey cows broke all records for milk production, and the milk and ice cream from his dairies, sold over a wide area of a country, were the finest obtainable. He founded and conducted the Biltmore Nursery, which specialized in trees and plants of the Appalachian region, and at the time of his death was doing a handsome business. He built many miles of roads and trails through his great forest area, making it almost as accessible as a park. Gifford Pinchot was his first superintendent of forests, passing from that place to the head of the United States Division of Forestry in 1898. Vanderbilt founded the Biltmore School of Forestry on his estate, where large numbers of young men received training. He planned and built the model village of Biltmore as a center for the employees on his property. Among other benefactions, he built in 1888 and presented to the New York Free Circulating Library its Jackson Square branch, and gave to Columbia University the ground on which the Teachers College was built. He also built a private museum in New York City, filled it with objects of art which he had collected all over the world, and presented it to the American Fine Arts Society.
Vanderbilt bought another home in Washington, but spent most of his time in his Carolina mountains, overseeing his numerous operations, studying trees, birds, and animals, or doing research in his large library, which was especially rich in works on nature.
He spoke eight languages and had a reading acquaintance with others.
He was shy and studious, caring little for finance, though he succeeded in increasing his own fortune materially during his lifetime. He fell in love with the mountains of western North Carolina, and in 1889 began buying land south and southwest of Asheville, eventually acquiring 130, 000 acres, it is said, including Mount Pisgah (5, 749 feet), one of the most beautiful peaks in the Appalachians. Here he planned the finest country home in America.
Quotes from others about the person
"The stimulus afforded by his example towards improved agricultural methods in the South is beyond all estimate. "
Vanderbilt married on June 2, 1898, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser of Newport, Rhode Island, who proved a congenial helpmate in all his plans. He had a daughter, Cornelia Stuyvesant.
May 8, 1821 – December 8, 1885 Was an American businessman and philanthropist.
24 June 1821 - 6 November 1896
2 February 1855 - 29 June 1938
12 December 1849 - 22 July 1920
11 December 1846 - 20 November 1847
27 November 1843 - 12 September 1899
August 17, 1928 – October 31, 2017 Was the operator of the Biltmore Estate through his company, The Biltmore Company.
Born on February 27, 1925. Is the owner and operator of Biltmore Farms.
31 January 1852 - 28 July 1946
23 July 1845 - 3 March 1924
20 September 1860 - 10 July 1936
8 January 1854 - 11 April 1952
January 17, 1873 – December 21, 1958 Was an American philanthropist.
22 August 1900 - 7 February 1976
