Download or read book The Last Castle written by Denise Kiernan and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller with an "engaging narrative and array of detail” (The Wall Street Journal), the “intimate and sweeping” (Raleigh News & Observer) untold, true story behind the Biltmore Estate—the largest, grandest private residence in North America, which has seen more than 120 years of history pass by its front door. The story of Biltmore spans World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, and generations of the famous Vanderbilt family, and features a captivating cast of real-life characters including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Teddy Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent, James Whistler, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York’s best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness. He summoned the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to tame the grounds, collaborated with celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to build a 175,000-square-foot chateau, filled it with priceless art and antiques, and erected a charming village beyond the gates. Newlywed Edith was now mistress of an estate nearly three times the size of Washington, DC and benefactress of the village and surrounding rural area. When fortunes shifted and changing times threatened her family, her home, and her community, it was up to Edith to save Biltmore—and secure the future of the region and her husband’s legacy. This is the fascinating, “soaring and gorgeous” (Karen Abbott) story of how the largest house in America flourished, faltered, and ultimately endured to this day.

Download or read book Biltmore Estate written by Ellen Erwin Rickman and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a pictorial look at the history of the Biltmore Estate and the lives of the Vanderbilt family.

Download or read book Stickwork written by Patrick Dougherty and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using minimal tools and a simple technique of bending, interweaving, and fastening together sticks, artist Patrick Dougherty creates works of art inseparable with nature and the landscape. With a dazzling variety of forms seamlessly intertwined with their context, his sculptures evoke fantastical images of nests, cocoons, cones, castles, and beehives. Over the last twenty-five years, Dougherty has built more than two hundred works throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia that range from stand-alone structures to a kind of modern primitive architecture--every piece mesmerizing in its ability to fly through trees, overtake buildings, and virtually defy gravity. Stickwork, Dougherty's first monograph, features thirty-eight of his organic, dynamic works that twist the line between architecture, landscape, and art. Constructed on-site using locally sourced materials and local volunteer labor, Dougherty's sculptures are tangles of twigs and branches that have been transformed into something unexpected and wild, elegant and artful, and often humorous. Sometimes freestanding, and other times wrapping around trees, buildings, railings, and rooms, they are constructed indoors and in nature. As organic matter, the stick sculptures eventually disintegrate and fade back into the landscape. Featuring a wealth of photographs and drawings documenting the construction process of each remarkable structure, Stickwork preserves the legend of the man who weaves the simplest of materials into a singular artistic triumph.

Download or read book Biltmore Estate written by John Bryan and published by Rizzoli. This book was released on 1994-09-15 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Original architectural drawings, sketches, plans, 19th century photographs, and new color photographs give the history and description of this architectural landmark.

Download or read book The Mystery of Biltmore House written by Carole Marsh and published by Gallopade International. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set at America's largest private residence-250 rooms-with real secret passages! Readers learn about the Victorian era when electricity & other "newfangled" things kids take for granted today first came to be. Napoleon, the Vanderbilts, & some of America's greatest writers figure into the plot, as does natural resource conservation.

Download or read book Around Biltmore Village written by Bill Alexander and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than a century ago, George W. Vanderbilt transformed the sleepy crossroads settlement known as Best, or Asheville Junction, on the Swannanoa River into an idyllic model village near the entrance to his vast Biltmore Estate near Asheville. The initial concepts and design for Biltmore Village were the collaborative efforts of Vanderbilt, architect Richard Morris Hunt, and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The finished village included more than 40 residences, a business district, a church, a school, and a hospital. It was centrally located among the developing towns of Victoria, Kenilworth, South Biltmore, and later Biltmore Forest. It characterized the elegance and prosperity of the building booms that flourished in the south Asheville area before and after both world wars.

Download or read book Serafina and the Black Cloak written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul." Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of the Biltmore estate.There's plenty to explore in her grand home, although she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate's maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember. But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is:a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore's corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of the Biltmore's owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak's true identity...before all of the children vanish one by one. Serafina's hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic, one that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.

Download or read book Serafina and the Splintered Heart written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the highly-anticipated next installment of the Serafina series, Serafina must confront the darkest threat she's ever encountered at Biltmore Estate. She knows she can face anything with her best friend and closest ally, Braeden Vanderbilt, by her side. But when a sinister force tears them apart, Serafina scrambles to uncover the mystery of her most formidable challenge yet...and about herself and the destiny that awaits her.

Download or read book A Guide to Biltmore Estate written by Rachel Carley and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Lady on the Hill written by Howard E. Covington and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-03-10 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1950s, attorneys, financial managers, and tax accountants were united in advising Cecil and his brother, George, to sell off the estate's 12,000 acres in order to create a suburban subdivision. Cecil quietly ignored this advice and came up with a better idea: over the next four decades, he would turn this down-at-the-heels mansion that was a drain on the family business into the most successful, privately preserved historic site in the United States, perhaps even the world.

Download or read book North Carolina s Mountains written by Constance Richards and published by Falcon Guides. This book was released on 2004-08 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mountains of North Carolina are serene and the people who live here enjoy the comfort and beauty of the rural areas and the bustling aspects of the larger cities. From the Pisgah Forest to cultural attractions in Tryon to mountain crafts in Asheville, there are myriad things to do and see in this region.

Download or read book Asheville written by Douglas Stuart McDaniel and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Native American tribes, including Cherokee, Creek, and Shawano, passed through Asheville and Western North Carolina, building towns and villages along the banks of the Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers for more than 1,000 years. The first white settlers arrived in the Swannanoa Valley in October of 1784. After the Civil War, Asheville became a haven for the wealthy elite of Charleston and Philadelphia; as the resort era blossomed, so too did Asheville. Second only to Miami in its treasure trove of Art Deco landmarks, Asheville is an architectural and historical time capsule of national significance. It is a community with a rich heritage and history in the arts, including textiles, pottery, and modernist art. Today Asheville is at a crossroads; attempting to balance the environmental and natural attractions of the area with commercial development is and will be one of Asheville's greatest challenges.

Download or read book The Birth of Forestry in America written by Carl Alwin Schenck and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Serafina and the Twisted Staff written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Serafina's defeat of the Man in the Black Cloak has brought her out of the shadows and into the daylight realm of her home, Biltmore Estate. Every night she visits her mother in the forest, eager to learn the ways of the cat¬amount. But Serafina finds herself caught between her two worlds: she's too wild for Biltmore's beautifully dressed ladies and formal customs, and too human to fully join her kin. Late one night, Serafina encounters a strange and terrifying figure in the forest, and is attacked by the vicious wolfhounds that seem to be under his control. Even worse, she's convinced that the stranger was not alone, that he has sent his accomplice into Biltmore in disguise. Someone is wreaking havoc at the estate. A mysterious series of attacks test Serafina's role as Biltmore's protector, culminating in a tragedy that tears Serafina's best friend and only ally, Braeden Vanderbilt, from her side. Heartbroken, she flees. Deep in the forest, Serafina comes face-to-face with the evil infecting Biltmore—and discovers its reach is far greater than she'd ever imagined. All the humans and creatures of the Blue Ridge Mountains are in terrible danger. For Serafina to defeat this new evil before it engulfs her beloved home, she must search deep inside herself and embrace the destiny that has always awaited her.

Download or read book Willa of the Wood written by Robert Beatty and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Beatty comes a spooky, thrilling new series set in the magical world of Serafina. Move without a sound. Steal without a trace. Willa, a young nightspirit of the Great Smoky Mountains, is her clan's best thief. She creeps into the homes of day-folk in the cover of darkness and takes what they won't miss. It's dangerous work—the day-folk kill whatever they do not understand. But when Willa's curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in a day-folk man's home, everything she thought she knew about her people—and their greatest enemy—is forever changed.

Download or read book A Clearing In The Distance written by Witold Rybczynski and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-07-23 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a brilliant collaboration between writer and subject, Witold Rybczynski, the bestselling author of Home and City Life, illuminates Frederick Law Olmsted's role as a major cultural figure at the epicenter of nineteenth-century American history. We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes -- among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, and Boston's Back Bay Fens. But Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded The Nation magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as the executive secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross. Rybczynski's passion for his subject and his understanding of Olmsted's immense complexity and accomplishments make his book a triumphant work. In A Clearing in the Distance, the story of a great nineteenth-century American becomes an intellectual adventure.

Download or read book Biltmore Estate The Gardens and Grounds written by Bill Alexander and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of ornately decorated rooms, gardens and greenery and more--Walk through the history of the Biltmore Estate, one of America's many displays of personal wealth and decadence. In the spring of 1888, George Washington Vanderbilt returned to New York after spending weeks exploring the countryside near Asheville, North Carolina. Thinking it was the perfect place to build his home, Vanderbilt promptly sent his agent to begin quietly buying contiguous tracts of land until he had several thousand acres. Soon, he began constructing what would become America's largest private residence. He commissioned two of America's preeminent designers, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, to collaborate with him in planning his estate, which he named Biltmore. To complement the 250-room French Renaissance-style chateau, Olmsted worked closely with Hunt to create a vast landscape of pleasure gardens and grounds with miles of scenic drives through parklands, productive farms, and the country's first scientifically managed forest. Today, Biltmore is a National Historic Landmark privately owned by Vanderbilt's descendants.