Sometimes it’s the smallest detail that makes an object stand out in your mind. That’s the case with this week’s favorite thing for a member of Biltmore’s Museum Services staff. We invite you to visit soon to admire the details in Biltmore House and discover your own personal favorites!

Laura Cope Overbey, Collections Manager in Museum Services, joined Biltmore 14 years ago as the Associate Collections Manager and has been in her current position since 2008. Her job gives her a close look at items in the collection. Among the thousands of objects she has seen, two prints stand out for a special reason—even if most guests never even notice them.

“Mr. Vanderbilt collected more than 1,300 prints that are in our collection today,” Laura said. “My favorites are two prints of Charles II hanging on the west wall in Mr. Vanderbilt’s Bedroom.”

According to Laura, the prints appear to be identical and are by the same artists, 17^th-century Dutch painter Pieter Nason and Dutch printmaker Cornelis van Dalen II. Both date from the early 1660s and depict Charles II in the same stance, outfit, and background.

Yet, there is a slight difference between the two prints; one has the addition of three small objects in the bottom left corner—a crown, orb, and scepter. And those objects tell a fascinating story about the life of the English king.

“If you look carefully, you can see clues to the historical significance of the two prints,” Laura said. “At the beginning of his reign, Charles II was a king without a country. During his youth, he had witnessed the English Civil War, the end of the English monarchy, and the execution of his father, Charles I. Since his father’s death, Charles II was a king in exile.

“In 1660, the political tide changed and the English wanted to reinstate the monarchy. These prints illustrate this transition: the first shows a king without a country, and the second shows a king fully restored with the crown and country,” she said.

Left photo: Charles II without a country. Right photo: Charles II with his crown, orb, and scepter.

As we continue our focus on the details that make Biltmore so amazing, we invite you to visit this winter to admire the combination of architecture, art, and sculpture that makes Biltmore House uniquely beautiful. Today, we hear from a long-time employee who has a different take on his favorite thing: the beauty of mechanical ingenuity. Check back next week for another insider’s favorite.

Rick Conard, Vice President of Attraction Operations Support, joined Biltmore more than 20 years ago as an electrician. Since then, he’s been involved in just about every project around the estate, and knows Biltmore House inside and out.

Soon after he started at Biltmore, one of his first tasks involved spending more than three weeks working around the service elevator in Biltmore House. Less prominent (and significantly less decorative) than the passenger elevator in the main entry, the service elevator is located by the stairs in the Bachelors’ Wing.

This elevator was designed to carry workers as well as equipment and luggage, and traveled 80 feet from the Sub-Basement to the Fourth Floor. While it could lift 2,000 pounds, it was not the speediest mode of transport, taking nearly a minute to go six floors. Of course, the alternative of manually hauling a ton of luggage up several flights of winding stairs wouldn’t be all that fast either!

Rick was very involved in bringing the service elevator back to good working order, and he was working on the elevator when he got a call from his wife that she was headed to the hospital to have their first child—which explains why this ranks as his personal favorite.

If you’re interested in seeing the service elevator plus some of the other innovative mechanical systems in Biltmore House, take the guided Behind-the-Scenes Butler’s Tour that spends time in areas of the house not included in the regular visit.

These days you may see Rick around the estate with Cedric, a St. Bernard named in honor of George Vanderbilt’s favorite dog. They are often in Antler Hill Village, so keep an eye out for them during your next visit.

Winter is a perfect time to visit Biltmore and admire the combination of architecture, art, and sculpture that makes Biltmore House so amazing. In case you haven’t noticed every little detail, we’ve asked employees to share their favorite things so you too can appreciate what makes Biltmore special. Check back next week for another insider’s favorite!

Cathy Barnhardt, Floral Displays Manager, has spent 35 years at Biltmore and is nationally known for her work heading up our amazing Christmas decorations in Biltmore House. She began her career in the estate’s greenhouse, was promoted to manager, and then was asked to “do Christmas.”

Little did she know that 26 years later she would still be “doing” Christmas at Biltmore—a celebration that began with five trees and has grown into an estate-wide extravaganza with more than 60 decorated trees in the house alone!

For Cathy, two paintings in the Breakfast Room on the First Floor hold lasting appeal no matter how many times she sees them.

“I love the Renoir portraits,” she said. “I like Impressionist paintings and Renoir, and the Mediterranean colors remind me that one day I hope to go there.”

The two portraits are Young Algerian Girl and Child with an Orange, both painted in the 1880s by Pierre-Auguste Renoir as he traveled through the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.

According to our curators, George Vanderbilt acquired both paintings in 1892 from famed Parisian art dealer Joseph Durand-Ruel. Durand-Ruel is credited with doing more than just about anyone to promote the success of French Impressionists at a time when most other art critics and dealers looked upon them with disdain.

While George Vanderbilt was greatly influenced by his father’s art collection and was inspired by the earlier artists his father admired, George also supported more modern, progressive artists who embraced contemporary themes and new technologies. He funded the development of The American Fine Arts Society in New York, which represented young, avant-garde artists, and collected works by Renoir, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Maxime Maufra, and—although no longer in the Biltmore collection—Claude Monet and Édouard Manet.

About the photos:  Child with an Orange, top, and  Young Algerian Girl, bottom right.

Winter is a perfect time to visit Biltmore and admire the combination of architecture, art and sculpture that makes Biltmore House so amazing. In case you don’t have time to notice every little detail, we’ve asked employees to share their favorite things in the house so you too can appreciate what makes Biltmore special. Check back next week for another insider’s favorite!

Leslie Klingner has been Biltmore’s Curator of Interpretation for nearly seven years, and has an unusual view of her favorite to recount.

“I love the Guastavino tile vaulting throughout Biltmore House, especially in the swimming pool,” she said. “I got to observe it from a unique perspective one day—from the bottom of the pool when I retrieved a lost pearl earring that a guest had dropped.”

The ceiling in the swimming pool was designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino, who came to America in the 1880s and quickly became known for perfecting a unique system of building tiled ceiling vaults including the first New York City subways.

“His work is a technical feat built on ancient Catalan traditions,” Leslie said. You can see more of his skills by looking up at the ceiling as you walk from the Winter Garden into the Billiard Room.

Guastavino retired and built a home in Black Mountain, where he lived until his death in 1908. The Basilica of St. Lawrence in downtown Asheville—where his crypt is located— also displays his tilework and vaulting expertise.