Biltmore Estate (Images of America: North Carolina) by Ellen Rickman

Biltmore Estate (Images of America: North Carolina) by Ellen Rickman

The breathtaking Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, has captured the fascination of people everywhere for over 100 years.

Created in the 1890s by George Washington Vanderbilt, a member of one of America's wealthiest families, the estate combined a 250-room French Renaissance-style chateau with 125,000 acres of gardens, forests, and working farms. Biltmore House served as Vanderbilt's primary residence for almost 20 years. After Mr. Vanderbilt's death in 1914, life at Biltmore continued for his wife Edith and daughter Cornelia. In 1930, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil and her husband, Hon. John Francis Amherst Cecil, opened Biltmore House - the largest private home in the United States - to the public, firmly establishing the Asheville area as a major tourist destination.

Ellen Erwin Rickman, a native of Asheville, is the Director of Museum Services at Biltmore Estate. She is in charge of historical research, as well as the maintenance and interpretation of Biltmore's exceptional fine and decorative art collections. Since 1986, Rickman has worked at Biltmore Estate.