Biltmore House: The Interiors and Collections of George W. Vanderbilt

Collector George W. Vanderbilt (1862–1914) created one of the largest private country estates in the United States in the late 19th century, centred around Richard Morris Hunt's splendid 250-room French Renaissance Revival mansion. Beyond the acres of gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and the imposing façade of the château lies one of the country's most remarkable private collections of art and decorative art: paintings by Monet, Renoir, Sargent and Whistler, Renaissance tapestries, rare books and superb French and English furniture.

This book offers a glimpse into the design and furnishing of the North Carolina mansion in the 1890s, and analyses the Vanderbilts' relationships with leading artists, art dealers and decorative firms, from Tiffany & Co. in New York to Allard & Sons in Paris. It takes readers on a tour of rooms as diverse as the winter garden, the banquet hall, the tapestry gallery and library, the family's private apartments with their Rococo décor, as well as the industrially equipped kitchens and terraces filled with sculptures.