William Henry Vanderbilt, born in 1821, was one of three sons and eight daughters of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt. Although he was destined to follow the Commodore into the shipping and railroad business, William Henry would eventually share his passion for collecting art with his youngest son George Vanderbilt.

As a young man, William Henry studied accounting at Harvard University. After graduation, his first job as an accounting clerk was with his father’s biggest competitor. Eventually William Henry went to work with his father and the family business continued to prosper. The Commodore passed away in 1877, leaving the majority of his fortune and his business interests to his trusted son and associate William Henry Vanderbilt.

William H. Vanderbilt portrait by Jared B. Flagg, c. 1877; Breakfast Room  at Biltmore

A passionate collector of art

Due to his own business success and the assets he inherited, William Henry was able to pursue a passion for art collecting that he had developed in earlier years but had not been able to fully realize until later. Like most other wealthy gentlemen of the time who were amassing art collections, William Henry tended to purchase what was fashionable, and in the early 1880s, French paintings in the realist or academic style were most desirable.

By the time William Henry’s youngest child George Washington Vanderbilt was born in 1862, the Vanderbilt family fortunes had expanded even further. Wealth and luxury were a way of life. George Vanderbilt was growing up in a world of that his parents and even his older brothers and sisters had not experienced. The family traveled extensively throughout Europe, and by the time George was 12, he began to accompany his father on art collecting trips overseas, setting a precedent for traveling abroad at least once a year for the rest of his life.

Like father, like son

George Vanderbilt inherited his father’s passion for admiring and collecting art. As a 16-year-old, one of his travel journals recorded some of the sites he and his father visited, such as Versailles, the Louvre, and the National Gallery in London. The journal also reveals that George was a serious student of the arts and of history, spending many hours strolling through museums and libraries, visiting art studios with his father, and studying art and history in his hotel room. Among other things, he commented on his admiration of classical antiquities, medieval French architecture, and English country houses. Thus the seeds of the future–and what would eventually transpire at Biltmore–were already planted in his mind.

When George was around 19, his father built a new Italian Renaissance style mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the Bachelors Wing for his youngest son. George’s rooms on the third floor included not only a bedroom and dressing areas, but also a private library to house his growing collection of books. Perhaps even more than art, book collecting had become one of George Vanderbilt’s main interests.

Going to the Opera by Seymour Guy, 1873; Second Floor Living Hall at Biltmore

George Vanderbilt’s inheritance

William Henry passed away in 1884, bringing George a sizeable inheritance from his father’s estate. In addition, George also inherited a number of pieces from his father’s art collection, including a painting by Seymour Guy commissioned by William Henry in 1873.

Entitled Going to the Opera, the work features William Henry, his wife Maria Louisa, and their eight children gathered together in the family residence at 459 Fifth Avenue where they lived when George Vanderbilt was a child. While most of the older siblings are grandly dressed to attend an evening at the opera, the younger children (including George, who is the boy seated at the table) and their parents wear more casual clothing suited to an evening at home.

A closer look at the piece reveals a member of the household staff standing in the back of the room holding coats–an interesting detail to have included in this family painting. The commission and future exhibition of Going to the Opera was a definite statement reflecting the Vanderbilt family’s rise in society. This painting remains in the Biltmore collection and is visible in the hallway outside of Mr Vanderbilt’s Bedroom as you leave Second Floor Living Hall.

Book cases for a book collector

Herter Brothers bookcases; Third Floor Living Hall at Biltmore

Not surprisingly, a set of beautiful bookcases custom built by the Herter Brothers of New York also came to George Vanderbilt from his father’s house. The Herter Brothers firm was well known for their exquisite designs and furnishings for the finest homes of the day, including the White House and Jay Gould’s mansion. Look for these bookcases in the Third Floor Living Hall at Biltmore House.

Grand glass

La Farge stained glass window displayed at Biltmore’s Winery

In 1879, William Henry Vanderbilt commissioned a series of stained glass panels for his Fifth Avenue home. Created by John La Farge, a contemporary of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the panels express allegorical scenes related to hospitality, prosperity, and other classic themes. The set of panels entitled The Fruits of Commerce shown here form a triptych that is now on display at the Winery in Antler Hill Village.

Lighting the way

Deerpark Restaurant at Biltmore

For sheer size, nothing George Vanderbilt inherited from his father compares to a pair of enormous decorative lanterns that once adorned the entrance of William Henry’s mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue. The massive lanterns once watched over crowds of curious onlookers; today they welcome guests who visit Deerpark Restaurant located on the grounds of Biltmore.

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Featured blog image: Photograph of William Henry Vanderbilt, c. 1882

While we aren’t sure exactly when they met, George Vanderbilt and author Edith Wharton likely knew each other most of their lives. Both were born into New York society in 1862 and both moved in the same social circles.

Thanks to the Biltmore House guest book, we know that Wharton visited the estate at least twice: once in November 1902 and again around Christmas 1905.

On December 26, 1905, she wrote from Biltmore to her friend Sara Norton, describing the Vanderbilts’ gracious hospitality:

“Yesterday we had a big Xmas fete for the 350 people on the estate – a tree 30 ft. high, Punch & Judy, conjuror, presents & “refreshments.” It would have interested you, it was done so well & sympathetically, each person’s wants being thought of, from mother to last baby.”

From The Letters of Edith Wharton

During this visit, she signed a copy of her recently completed novel, The House of Mirth:

“To George Vanderbilt from Edith Wharton, Biltmore House, Christmas 1905.”

The House of Mirth later became entry #2,163 in George’s “Books I Have Read” journal series.

In the Biltmore archives, there are a handful of letters from Wharton to George. While many of the letters discuss Wharton subletting the Vanderbilts’ apartment on the Left Bank in Paris from 1907 to 1910, one of them stands out from the rest.

On March 25, 1913, Wharton wrote George regarding a 70th birthday gift for Henry James, author of The Portrait of a Lady. She was sending word of a circular and a collection of money for James to purchase whatever gift he wanted.

But a gift was never purchased. James found out about the collection prematurely and refused it.

Coincidentally, James, who was also a friend of George Vanderbilt’s, stayed at Biltmore—in the winter of 1905, around the same time as Wharton.

While other members of the Vanderbilt family were recognized for their lavish parties or successes in the stock market, when it came to George Vanderbilt, the press instead focused on his love of learning and, more specifically, his preoccupation with reading.

A turn-of-the-century New York journalist wrote of the youngest Vanderbilt:

“He was a bookworm, a student… And his love of books came all from his own inner consciousness, for he was not graduated from any college, and his education, while not neglected, had not been carried beyond the ordinary limits of high schools, though now, I doubt not, he is one of the best read men in the country.”

Let’s take a look at a few items in the Biltmore House collection that speak to George Vanderbilt’s passions for reading and books.

Birthday Gift from Mama

For George Vanderbilt’s ninth birthday, his mother, Maria Louisa Vanderbilt, gave him three volumes from Reverend Elijah Kellogg, Jr.’s Elm Island Series and within each, she inscribed “George from Mama Nov. 14th 1871.” 

Thanks to this special gift set, we gleam that George was interested in reading at a young age.

Portrait by John Singer Sargent

As his interest turned to passion with age, George’s love of books became more prominent.

One example of this is his 1890 portrait by John Singer Sargent, one of the most celebrated society portraitists of his time. In it, George holds a book in his right hand.

The portrait hangs in the Tapestry Gallery, above the door leading into the Library.

Bust by Mary Grant

Another example of the prominence of this passion is a bust of George by Scottish artist Mary Grant.

Appropriately displayed in the Library, the bronze sculpture shows George Vanderbilt with his left elbow and right hand resting on a stack of two volumes.

This bust is one of four by Grant in the Biltmore House collection.

Biltmore House Bookplate

Designed by George Vanderbilt himself and engraved by Edwin Davis French, the Biltmore House bookplate is found in nearly all of the books in the Library.

The oil lamp motif featured in the center symbolizes the eternal quest for knowledge and enlightenment.

The surrounding Latin inscription, “Quaero Ex Libris Biltmoris,” may be translated, “Inquire in the books of Biltmore.”

“Books I Have Read”

Finally, the most definitive testament to George’s love of reading in the Biltmore House collection: his journal series titled “Books I Have Read.”

George began logging works and authors at the age of 12 and continued the habit until his death in 1914. 

He ultimately logged 3,159 books, which means he read an average of 81 books each year, or about a book and half per week.

The last entry was the third volume of Henry Adams’ History of the United States.

We invite you to join us as we celebrate George Vanderbilt’s love of reading with more than 40 award-winning movie costumes on display throughout America’s Largest Home®, accompanied by the original books in his 22,000-volume personal collection that inspired the films. 

Feature image: One of George Vanderbilt’s “Books I Have Read” journals opened to the 1,817th entry: Richard Carvel by Winston Churchill. Right above it is George’s note about daughter Cornelia’s birth on August 22, 1900.

Biltmore forester Carl Schenck once wrote:
“Personally, I can say that Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt detest publicity, preferring to do the right thing at the right time without beating a drum about it.”

Indeed, George and Edith Vanderbilt demonstrated an unswerving commitment to helping those less fortunate. Whether it was on the estate, within the local community, or in other parts of the country, their charitable gifts reflect their passions for literacy, education, and the arts.

Jackson Square Branch of the New York Public Library

George’s commitment to providing educational opportunities to all, regardless of income, began at a young age. In 1887, he hired architect Richard Morris Hunt, who later designed Biltmore House, to design and build the Jackson Square Branch of the New York Free Circulating Library System.

George paid to have the branch furnished and fully stocked with books at a time when free libraries were rare; individuals usually had to pay a fee to borrow books, which prevented many from having access.

American Fine Arts Society

In 1889, a group of young artists in New York City set out to create an organization that would provide educational and financial support to up-and-coming artists. George was one of eight initial benefactors who each donated $5,000 to what would become The American Fine Arts Society. The society’s new building opened in 1892, adjoined by a grand exhibition gallery which George built at a cost of $100,000.

Many assumed the society would then rent the gallery for exhibitions. Instead, at a celebration in the gallery on December 29, 1892, he surprised those attending by announcing he was handing over the gallery’s deed to the society as a Christmas and New Year’s gift.

“The gift of the gallery… is an example of what a public-spirited man can do if he has wealth at his disposal….He has stood by the Fine Arts Society from the start, and encouraged the triple alliance of architects, artists, and art students …” 
– The New York Times, January 1, 1893

The exhibition gallery, named The Vanderbilt Gallery in George’s honor, still exists today.

Teachers College

George was also a proponent of the Industrial Education Movement, a reform movement aimed at providing skilled teachers and schools to educate poor urban children.

William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, the younger son of Cornelia and John F. A. Cecil, was born at Biltmore in 1928. He attended schools in England and Switzerland before serving in the British Navy. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, William worked as a banker in the international department of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City.

It was there that he met his future wife Mary “Mimi” Lee Ryan, daughter of textile manufacturer John J. Ryan, Jr., and granddaughter of prominent New York banker, lawyer, and builder James T. Lee. Mimi received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College and her law degree from the University of Michigan. Prior to her marriage, she was an attorney with the Manhattan firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham, and Taft.

A romantic beginning

The Cecils married on October 5, 1957, at St. Vincent Ferrer’s Roman Catholic Church in New York City. The bride wore a gown of white satin with a fitted bodice and a full skirt forming a cathedral train. She carried a lush bouquet of white roses, stephanotis, and English ivy. Her veil was a family heirloom originally worn in 1903 by her maternal grandmother, Margaret Merritt Lee, and also worn by her first cousin, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, at her 1953 wedding to future U.S. President John F. Kennedy. After the ceremony, a reception was held at the elegant River Club in the city.

In 1959, the Cecils moved to Asheville, North Carolina to manage Biltmore, the grand country estate created by Mr. Cecil’s grandfather George Vanderbilt. Their two children grew up in the family business whose mission is preserving Biltmore as a privately owned, profitable working estate. Today, William Cecil, Jr. serves as Biltmore’s CEO and Diana “Dini” Cecil Pickering is president of the Family Office.

The Biltmore Legacy

Today, estate guests have an opportunity to visit The Biltmore Legacy located in Antler Hill Village and view our Fashionable Romance exhibition featuring family wedding history and heirlooms, including Mrs. Cecil’s beautiful wedding gown, subsequently worn by her daughter-in-law Virginia Cecil and her daughter Dini Pickering.

The Lee Family Veil is also displayed in the exhibition along with a stunning recreation of the gown worn by Mr. Cecil’s mother Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil and her original satin slippers. This outstanding collection of wedding-related fashion offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the fascinating family that has preserved Biltmore for generations to come.

The fate of George Vanderbilt’s visionary estate featuring Biltmore House set like a jewel amidst a breathtaking landscape might have been very different if Mr. Vanderbilt’s grandson William A.V. Cecil had not returned to Asheville to take on the management of America’s largest home and all that it entailed.

The white elephant

After Biltmore House was opened for public viewing in 1930, it became a well-known attraction in the southeast. By the late 50s, however, the numbers of visitors were dwindling and a decision had to be made: sell the property and turn what many considered a “white elephant” into a state or national historic trust—or find a way to preserve the estate and put it back on its feet financially.

Against most well-meaning advice, Mr. Cecil decided to leave his successful career with Chase-Manhattan Bank in Washington, DC and return to his birthplace to see what he could make of it. According to Howard Covington’s book Lady on the Hill,

“Cecil brought a fresh and appreciative perspective to Biltmore. He saw the chateau not with the eye of a curator hired to present and explain a historic property but as a devoted family member who was proud of what his grandfather had left for him and others to enjoy. Like his father before him, William believed that visitors should be made to feel like guests rather than ticket holders and should be welcomed warmly and treated with courtesy.”

Recovery begins

To attract the numbers of guests needed to make the venture successful, Mr. Cecil had to become a one-man marketing department to promote Biltmore House and Gardens to the public. He was more than equal to the challenge, and in the summer of 1960, Biltmore welcomed its one-millionth visitor since tickets were first made available 30 years earlier. The growth was important for the success of Biltmore, because the dairy operation that had sustained the estate for many years was becoming less profitable in the face of new regulations and increased competition.
 

The legacy continues

Now nearly six decades later, Biltmore welcomes more than one million guests annually, and the estate is a glowing tribute to George Vanderbilt’s original vision, the groundbreaking work of his grandson William Cecil, and the Cecil family’s continued commitment to their mission of preserving Biltmore as a privately owned, profitable, working estate. The property includes Antler Hill Village, which features the award-winning Winery and Antler Hill Farm; the four-star Inn on Biltmore Estate; Village Hotel on Biltmore Estate; Equestrian Center; numerous restaurants; event and meeting venues; and Biltmore For Your Home, the company’s licensed products division.

 

Featured image: William A.V. Cecil in front of Biltmore House, circa 1980s

Right: Cornelia and John Cecil open Biltmore House to the public in 1930

Left: William Cecil works discusses the possibilities of raising prawns at Biltmore, circa 1980s

Right:  William Cecil in the winery he envisioned, circa 1985