George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914)

Businessman. A member of the wealthy American Vanderbilt family, he was the youngest of eight children of William Henry and Maria Louisa Vanderbilt and grandson of shipping tycoon Corneilus Vanderbilt. Best known as the creator of the 100,000 acre French Renaissance chateau, "Biltmore Estate" nestled in the mountains just south of Asheville, North Carolina. George Vanderbilt, quiet and intellectual had been greatly influenced at a young age by his mother's cultural interest, starting his own collection of art and books at an early age. Unlike the rest of his family, he was little attracted to commerce and fashionable society. He preferred the world of learning and travel. Vanderbilt later married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser and together they had one daughter named Cornelia. It was while visiting Asheville, North Carolina on holiday in 1887 that he first glimpsed the site for his future home. Enchanted by the remote majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he decided to make Asheville the site of his country estate. Vanderbilt commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to create the mansion. When it opened on Christmas Eve of 1895, the 225 room mansion was the largest private home in America, which it remains today. George Vanderbilt died in 1914 and his home is now a National Historic Landmark containing its original artworks and furnishings.

Bio by: Curtis Jackson