Customer Reviews

Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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The real surprise about Biltmore is not that it was built, the rich-rich back in those days had lots money to spend on things like this. Instead it is that Biltmore has been brought back from being a somewhat shabby Grand Dame back into splender. Over the decades it was restored and brought up to date, but even more important it, and its surrounding were turned into a profitable enterprise that shows that all these old houses do not have to be turned over to the government to survive.

The estate incorporates some 12,000 acres near Asheville NC. In the late 1950's the smart money advisors recommended that it be sold off for a suburban housing development. Instead George Vanderbilt's grandson William Cecil began the project that lasted for forty years to bring the estate back.

It now produces wine and visitors to the area. He has become as or perhaps even more popular destination than Monticello, Mount Vernon or Colonial Williamsburg.

This is the story of how Mr. Cecil made the whole thing happen.

I've read and studied regarding the lives of the Vanderbilt families and the Biltmore inparticular. This is truly one of the BEST books I've read. We've all learned about the house and George Vanderbilt's ideas and thinking on building Biltmore. This book describes the life of his wife Edith and their daughter Cornelia after his death and what they had to go through to keep Biltmore after his death. The research is absolutely amazing. For anyone who is interested or obsessed with The Biltmore, this is a MUST read.

This book is intriguing for those who enjoy nonfiction. It describes how Biltmore formed a business to keep from being sold and subdivided, what happened to the family members since George's death, and the relationship between Biltmore and the city of Asheville, among other things. It is extremely interesting if you would like to know more about the history of the estate and its families.

There is not a whole lot of literature around when it comes to the Vanderbilts and the Biltmore. SO this book is a refreshing and very easy to read story about the Vanderbilts and their successes leading up to the building of Biltmore taking 6 years.

Everyone that can find the time and is planning to visit the Biltmore should read this before going. The Biltmore is so large and there are so many things to see that a visit requires some advanced planning to get the whole picture about this family and this American marvel. After our first visit to the Biltmore during this year's Christmas lights, we bought an annual access pass (upgrade while your day pass is still valid and you save a bundle), this and a picture history book. Now we are planning to go back and be prepared to really udnerstand this marvellous site.

We grew up visiting The Biltmore and this book is very acurate. The details, pictures and biography of this home is outstanding! Makes me want to go back again to see things we have missed!

Having been to see Biltmore in the summer of it centenial, I was thrilled to find a book that told the story of how such a wonderful home was saved. The story is a unique and fascinating one that tells of one man's struggle, against advice and odds, to save his grandfather's beautiful home and in the end fulfill his grandfather's dream of a self-supporting estate.

Very interesting read on how Vanderbilt heir's found a way to afford to maintain this behemouth in the foothills of the Appalations. Biltmore is without peer as far as American's great houses go, it looks like the kind of place Frances I and Catherine de Medici would have felt right at home in, it's quite simply a breathtaking tour de force, but as such a true money pit and the proverbial white elephant. You have to give Vanderbilt heir, Mr. Cecil, credit for finding people to tell him how to do what his grandfather could not, and that is to make this place, if not make money, at least break even; indeed, not an easy task. As someone who has toured Richard Morris Hunt's anachronistic Biltmore, I for one applaud his efforts; the mansion looks great and the tour is very well persented, although, very expensive, but I suppose one has to look at it as a donation of sorts, to help to assure the vital survival of this singular American mansion, and the fact it helps enrich, the already rich Vanderbilt's, I suppose it an unfortunate biproduct I can live with, frankly the Vanderbilt's, thanks to the slash and burn ruthlessness of the Commador, will probably always have wealth, well at least they gave us Anderson Cooper. Good read, highly recommended.

I read the book this week after visiting Biltmore for the first time. The book focuses on Biltmore from a business perspective, telling how the estate was preserved through the years. It touches just briefly on the early years under the builder George Vanderbilt and focuses more on the challenges that came later on preserving the estate and even making it profitable. I had assumed that this was just a big home for a rich guy, but George Vanderbilt's goal was to make it a working farm that supported itself, just a really huge one. That did not work out for him but eventually it did for his grandson, William Cecil. The main theme of the book is that private ownership of historical properties that are run to make a profit can make for better preservation that non-profit organizations. The book is written to boost Biltmore and has an afterward by William Cecil, so expect the book to take the Biltmore line. Taking that into account, the book is very readable and I found myself squeezing in time to finish reading it. It also got me thinking how this can apply to other historic properties.

If you have ever been to Biltmore, this is a must read. It makes the house more a home. Less a museum. You will understand the hardships to make this such a wonderful US "must see".

Lady on the Hill is a fantastic book. Anyone that is interested in historic preservation will find it enjoyable. People that have been to, or plan to go to Biltmore Estate should definitly read it. The history of the Vanderbilt and Cecil family to maintain the property as a private residence is amazing. I have been to Biltmore several times and had no idea that almost from its completion "how to maintain it" has been a question, and at times a problem. The book is an interesting glimpse into one family's creative endeavors to maintain a family home and in the process create an entire tourist industry.