The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-05-24

3SE1 & 1 !
c[sT6IIRs 1rS1nnssstfns
George vanderbilt:s favorite coun-
try residence Is within q few miles OF
Asheville, IN. c., on a. spur of the Blue
Mountains. His new home, which has
been building for four years OF more,
is now practically completed. The
, house ID an imposing Gothic structure
| of Indiana sandstone. 1t is the most
impressive and commanding of the
many residences belonging to the Van
derbilts.
The mansion is not long and low
and rambling as most southern dwell
lings are. Instead, it rises to the height
of four stories, not counting the lower
floor where domestic work is done, or
the story next to the roof. But it is
broad and long and impressive. Mr..
Vanderbilt was largely his own archi-
tect, and the result would indicate that
he is not a bad one. He has been cour-
ageous enough to borrow literally from
others, but mainly from Switzerland,
for h house as seen from a distance
resembles an Alpine. chateau. The
massive mountains near by add to this
impression. The halls in it are as wide
and lofty as those in the old houses in
England. There are no small rooms.
The dining halls are immense. There
are no less than fifty guest chambers,
an indication that Mr.. Vanderbilt does
not intend to be a hermit in his noun
tain home. There are several large
rooms evidently intended to be recep-
tion-rOoms, and there is a huge ball
room looking out upon the mountains,
showing a most romantic scene by
light. The baths are of marble, mined
from the mountains neal by, and the
whole interior is rich in appearance
and arrangement. The stables at a dis
lance alone are finer than many mod
ern houses, and the kennels-for there
is yet game in these mountains-are
on a plane with the other buildings.
Wlthal there is nothing glazing or
garish about all this. Many modern
houses would look ridiculous in the
midst of the wild mountain scenery,
but Mr.. Vanderbilt has been fortunate
enough to bring about harmony and to
make his splendid home appear a nat
ural part of the scene presented.
No n but Mr.. Vanderbilt himself
knows what all this has cost him. The
amount is small compared with what
it would have been had the estate been
in the north. Land in western North
Carolina when Vanderbilt purchased
was ridiculously low. So were all sorts
Of ordinary labor, for skilled labor had
to come from the north at northern
rates of wages. But the building ma
terial was right at hand to be cut or
mined, and nature herself had been the
c11p,Jynv0y md n,,lo.o- - . ,o -
we'll.
From his library window Mr.. Van
derbilt can see the Blue Ridge, the
Alleghanies and their tributary noun
tain ranges rising and stretching away
in the distance. He can see Mount Pts
gah raising it's pine lad head more
than 5000 feet above the plateau.
Black Dome, Clingman's Dome, Mitch
ellis Peak, and a score or more of
giants are near by. Between these,
like silver threads, run the French
Broad, the Hiawassee and near half a
dozen other rivers. He may see if he
wishes the spots over in the Tennessee
mountains that have been made in a
way famous by the charming stories
of Charles Egbert Craddock. And here
and there he may see the cabins of the
m~OOnshlners, who think straight and
shoot the same way, and are in no man
ner to be regarded as being like the
Georgia cracker or the poor white of
the lowlands.
Mr.. Vanderbilt's place contains about
$4,000 acres in it's immediate grounds
or park. Several miles beyond he owns
on Mount Pisgah and in it's neighbor-
hood about 100, 900 acres more, intended
for use as a hunting and shooting pre-
serve.
George Vanderbilt is the student of
the family. He is an ardent lover of
books and nature, is unmarried. is SO
years old, and is worth 81, OOO, 900 for
each year of his life.