• Home
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • About Us
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us

The Loafer Online

  • In This Issue
  • Featured
    • Cover Story
      • Sycamore Springs
    • Events
      • Local Photographer Jeffrey Stoner April Exhibition at CSFA
      • ETSU’s 2021 Civility Week encourages participants to ‘Be the Light’
      • 2021 Spring Roan Mountain Naturalists Rally: Saturday, April 24, 2021 
      • BELOVED TRADITION OF THE “5X10 PLAYS” RETURNS TO TUSCULUM FOR SEVEN SHOWS IN ANNIE HOGAN BYRD
      • Bullington Gardens Holds Spring Plant Sale Online
      • ETSU to present virtual ‘radio style’ performance of scenes from ‘King Lear’
      • Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site Presents SUMMERS PAST HISTORY PROGRAM
      • MECC Foundation to Host Auto World – MECC Golf Classic
      • Our Living Past
      • BFA Exhibitions on display at the Reece Museum
    • Arts
      • Local Photographer Jeffrey Stoner April Exhibition at CSFA
      • BELOVED TRADITION OF THE “5X10 PLAYS” RETURNS TO TUSCULUM FOR SEVEN SHOWS IN ANNIE HOGAN BYRD
      • With Her Upbeat New Single, BETH SNAPP Finds Promise After the Pandemic
      • ETSU to present virtual ‘radio style’ performance of scenes from ‘King Lear’
      • Our Living Past
      • BFA Exhibitions on display at the Reece Museum
    • Music
      • With Her Upbeat New Single, BETH SNAPP Finds Promise After the Pandemic
      • Band Booking
    • News
      • ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy offering free webinars for ESL Support Program
      • Birthplace of Country Music Ready for Spring with Increased Museum Visitation, Festival Planning, and New Events
      • Women in Power – Ashley Grindstaff
      • Women in Power – Angela Cameron, DDS
      • Women in Power – Kim Santucci
      • Johnson City Parks and Recreation announces 2021 summer camps
      • Abingdon, VA: Southwest Virginia’s Hub for World-Class Outdoor Adventure
    • Business
      • The Loafer Live
      • Davis Marina
      • Award Winning Digital Video Services
      • True Foundation Property Group
      • FairyTails Grooming & Daycare
  • Columns
    • *batteries not included
    • Pop Life
    • Tea Time with Appalachian Barbie
    • Getting Schooled
  • Archives
    • Archived Articles By Month
  • Progress Businesses
    • Automotive
    • Event Venue
    • Home Services
    • Marketing
    • Medical
    • Restaurants
    • Schools / Colleges
    • Services
    • Stores
    • Theatre
    • Travel
  • Spotlight
  • Full Issues

The Biltmore House Part 2

Last week we left you after only completing the first floor of this astonishing house.  Even with this second issue further exploring the home, we are still not going to be able to cover every detail that we feel you need to know.  So this is going to be a whirlwind tour of the basement, second and third floors. 

Wanderer2

Now remember, we told you last week that the Biltmore House has 135,800 feet of living space between a total of 5 floors.  That’s a lot of stepping to do on a daily basis and if you are only traversing the 3 main living floors, the grand staircase has 102 steps of its own!  So let’s get moving and start this week’s tour in the sub-basement.

When most people think of the basement, they immediately see the floor directly below the main floor of the house.  We are going to go another floor below that.  Yes, that’s right, this castle extends two stories below ground!  The sub-basement is where all the workings of the house’s mechanics are found.  The boiler rooms, the electrical boxes, the elevator gears (yes, the Biltmore house actually has a working elevator that is over 100 years old!).  Moving up to the actual basement level of the house, here you will find some of the fascinating amenities that were never heard of in a home over 100 years ago, or even today for that matter!   Mr. Vanderbilt didn’t want his guests or family to leave the Estate for any reason if they didn’t have to.  Here on this level, guests would find things such as the Halloween Room.  This brightly-painted room would have been used for storage during the first 30 years of the house and then as a party room during the wedding of Vanderbilt’s daughter, Cornelia.

Wanderer3

Guests will also find a full-size bowling alley with two lanes.  Balls were returned by rolling them down a center track, and pins were reset by hand. The next thing guests would come to is a long hallway of dressing rooms.  What were these dressing rooms used for?  Well none other than the indoor 27,000-gallon heated and lighted swimming pool.  Here guests could relax in the luxurious pool any time of the year. The luxury measured 53 feet long by 27 feet wide, 8 and a half feet. The pool included underwater lighting and diving boards.  What’s good for the body after a nice swim? Working out in the underground gymnasium using the parallel bars, chain-driven rowing machine, medicine balls and other up-to-date apparatuses.

Wanderer4

The basement was also the center hub for the house.  Here the three kitchens were found, along with the pantries, walk-in refrigerators and laundry rooms.  Every meal cooked during the day, be it a main meal such as breakfast or dinner or just a midnight snack, came from the basement in one of the kitchens.  Kitchen servants were on hand until the last guest was asleep and then the fires were roaring again at 5am to start the next day.  From the main kitchen, there are two dumbwaiters, one manual and one electric to take food to any level that was needed during the day or night.  Here you will also find the servants dining room and sitting room.  While there were much more modest than the grand dining hall just above, they were more than what was found in most homes for the day.  Cold walk-in refrigerators were unheard of during this time, and the Vanderbilts pulled it off by running pipes filled with cold water through the room to chill it.

Wanderer5

After leaving the basement, we will now take you to the 2nd floor of the house.  This floor housed the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt and several guest bedrooms.  Walking into Mr. Vanderbilt’s bedroom, you can surely see this is the bedroom of a king.  His bedroom was filled with heavily carved and turned walnut pieces including a dressing table, chaise lounge and chairs in the grand Baroque style.  Mr. Vanderbilt filled his room with items he loved such as fine engravings and bronze sculptures from the 19th century France.  It was common to have bathrooms in early homes of the 1800’s, but not one with hot water at the touch of the tap as in Mr. Vanderbilt’s bathroom.  These hot water pipes were fueled by two coke furnaces in the sub-basement.

Wanderer6

Between the Vanderbilt’s bedrooms is the oak sitting room.  This room was used for the couple to spend time together talking and planning events.  It was also used by Mrs. Vanderbilt to sit with her head maid and plan daily activities and meals for the estate guest.

Mrs. Vanderbilt’s bedroom is next in line down the row and fit for a queen.  Decorated in the Louis XV style, originated in France around 1700 and adopted by affluent American’s in the 1800’s.  This room has luxurious styles as silk wall coverings, fancily trimmed mirrors, Savonnerie carpets and cut-velvet draperies on the windows and bed.

Wanderer7

The second floor also included a massive living hall that included several hundred books of Mr. Vanderbilt’s 23,000 volume collection.  There was a hidden staircase that went from this room behind the fireplace in the Library where guest could come and go to fetch new reading materials.  It also has a piano and table games to entertain guests on this floor.

The third floor of the Biltmore House was reserved for guest rooms and a few of the house maid rooms.  This level also included a living hall for guest on this level to have entertainment such as the second-floor guest.  Here rooms such as the Madonna Room, Morland Room, Van Dyke Room, and Watson rooms were lavishly decorated in early pieces from the 1700’s and early 1800’s such as the French Empire style.

This concludes the inside of the Biltmore House.  Make sure to come back next week for a full review of the 8,000 acres that make up the “Estate”.

Wanderer8

Wanderer9

Aug 22, 2017Appalachian Wanderers
Share this:
Blue Plate Special - A Midsummer Nights DreamThe One Device (?)
You Might Also Like
 
The Princess Bride
 
National Night Out
Appalachian Wanderers
Appalachian Wanderers

by Jason & Daniel Worley
jdworley@theloaferonline.com

Jason was born in southwest Virginia and grew up with a passion for the mountains. He developed a love for travel and exploring the different facets of our unique Appalachian culture.  Jason uses his literary writing degree to transport his readers to exciting destinations from national parks to thriving cities or anywhere his wanders may take him.  

Daniel is a current student at the University of Tennessee.  When his nose isn't buried in comic books, he enjoys travel, theme parks and hiking.  Daniel holds a degree in photography and uses his passion to showcase the wondrous landscapes of our state with others to inspire them to explore everything our region has to offer.

3 years ago Appalachian Wanderers, Archives
Spotlight

Check back soon for updates.

Sycamore Springs
BFA Exhibitions on display at the Reece Museum
Our Living Past
About

Dedicated to local arts and entertainment around the Tri-Cities region since 1986.

Recent Posts
Sycamore Springs
BFA Exhibitions on display at the Reece Museum
Our Living Past
Archives

Sign Up to receive area news, events, and more via our e-newsletter.

2018 © The Loafer Online | Published by Pink Sky Media Group

All advertisements are accepted and published by the publisher upon the representation that the agency and/or advertiser is authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The agency and/or advertiser will indemnify and save the publisher harmless from any loss of expense resulting from claims or suits based upon contents of any advertisement, including claims or suits for defamation, libel, right of privacy, plagiarism, and copyright infringement.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.