The Heart of Biltmore

Explore a suite of Biltmore’s grandest rooms and discover stories of what made Biltmore House a home.

One of the rooms in the suite, the Louis XV Room, is perhaps the true heart of Biltmore. This room served as the birthplace of George and Edith’s only daughter, Cornelia, in 1900. Years later, Cornelia selected the Louis XV Room to deliver her two sons, George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil and William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil in 1925 and 1928, respectively.

With the opening of the suite in April 2009, more stories were revealed about the people who lived in, worked in, and loved America’s largest home.

If you choose to add our audio guide to your visit, you will hear stories about the excitement surrounding Cornelia’s birth in 1900 and firsthand accounts of friends and family members who wrote of their time at Biltmore.

Historic Splendor

Biltmore’s team of curators, conservators, and craftsmen has spent years researching and sourcing materials from around the globe to authentically restore this exceptional part of Biltmore House. Biltmore’s experts engaged in extensive detective work throughout the restoration process, including:

• Piecing remnants of original wallpaper found underneath door moldings and drapery brackets to determine wallpaper patterns for the reproduction process.
• Traveling to France to collaborate with fabric and wallpaper company designers to ensure the original samples were reproduced exactly.
• Hours of conserving the objects from George Vanderbilt’s collection, which have been kept in storage, away from public view, since the 1930s.
• Conducting paint analysis to determine and match the original paint colors.