House&Garden 
V o 1 . I NOVEMBER, 1901 No. 6 
BILTMORE, 
NORTH CAROLINA. 
Designed by Ricmard M. Hunt and Olmsted 
Brothers. 
HE estate ot Biltmore, near Asheville 
in North Carolina, is developing on 
lines somewhat un- 
cr ommon in this 
country. Lacking 
the incomparable 
touch ot time upon 
the youth of its 
plantations and to 
soften the staring 
newness ol its fresh- 
cut stone, it already 
gives an impression 
such as one takes 
away from a great 
historical place ot 
the older world. 
In extent and in 
scope ot manage¬ 
ment the estate is 
of a feudal great¬ 
ness unsurpassed, 
I dare say, among 
gentlemen’s seats 
in our own land 
since the famous 
days ot “ 
Carter and ot Lord 
Fairfax,in Colonial 
Virginia,and far ex¬ 
ceeding the places 
ot those great land¬ 
ed proprietors in 
every magnificence 
but that of acreage. 
The region which Biltmore occupies, the 
great plateau of the French Broad in Western 
North Carolina, lies at a mean altitude ot 
2,300 feet above the level ot the sea between 
the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains. Mount Mitchell and other peaks of 
the highest group east of the Rockies form a 
nobly impressive background to the land¬ 
scape. The eye follows with pleasure the 
long rolling backs ot the lulls which fill the 
middle distance ; and all the other elements 
ot the picture are 
good, with the one 
exception that 
foregrounds are 
sometimes lacking. 
The problem, then, 
tor the landscape 
architect at Bilt¬ 
more, beyond the 
need ot formally 
architectural gar¬ 
dens, which are 
properly the im¬ 
mediate setting of 
Biltmore House, 
was essentially the 
creation of broad 
and beautiful fore¬ 
grounds. Nature 
has provided them 
in many spots 
within the estate 
and notably along 
the two rivers which 
flow through it,— 
the Swannanoaand 
the French Broad, 
—but the general 
aspect of the pla¬ 
teau, almost cover¬ 
ed as it is with pines 
ol second growth, 
is rather sombre. 
Fhe creation of smiling park land extend¬ 
ing in a wide circle about the place was 
eminently a first necessity, and it has been 
admirably planned and carried on. Much 
I 
