The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-10-08
New York Journal!

X JOuTudI.i
Outside the main gates stand III
model village stores from which
the laborers secure their supplies, an.
the neat cottages with beautiful Epis
Copal church and handsome railroad
depot. A fair rental is charged tor
the cottages, and there seems to be
no meddIesome attempt to interfere
with the private lives of the great bod,
Of men who are employed upon the
estate. In the neighborhood of great
English houses it is usually found that
a man who is made comfortable in one
Of the sanitary cottages, and whose
wife is helped by the Squire's lady
when the children ara i'll, has to
go to the Squire's church and vote for
the Squire's cand date. So far as can
as yet be seen, Mr.. Vanderbilt seems
to be quite free from the spirit OF petty
tyranny which exacts submissions OF
of this SORT
The esplanade which stands in
front of the house is terrace of about
three acres, decorated with flower beds,
fountains and pools filled with aquatic
plants. The "Ramuedouce" slopes
from this terrace up to the piazza Of
the main building and gives access on
one side to the tennis court, which is
one of the most elaborate features of
the home park. The wall which sup,
ports this plateau on the side toward
the river is As feet in height and $50
feet in length.
On the plane next below the espla-
made stand the greenhouses and gar
dens, and on the next grade below
their level is the great lake, covering e
about twenty acres, its shores as elab-
orately decorated as the drawing room
jardiniere. The water for all the arti-
fetal ponds on the upper levels of the
estate, as we'll as for the house and
outbulldings, is brought from springs
on Buzby mountain, three miles away
without the use of any pumping plant.
The stables are close to the house,
separated only by large circular
court paved with brick, and as COM
plete and convenient as any stables
possibly could be, although there are
no fantastic extravagances such as the
silver plated managers and malachte
drinking troughs OF some of the mod
ern French milionaires. Although
there are several four-in- hand teams
and any number of the finest English
hacks and hunters, the build of the
coaches and the style of the harness
show that the owner Cf Blltmore is
very far from being an Anglomaniac,
and, indeed, when driving along the
road in side-bar buggy behind pair
of kentuckp trotters, he is no more
conspicuous than any other prosperous
Southern gentleman. The blowing Of
horns and the sparkle of livery buttons
do not form an important part of the
pleasure Of driving.
| OF the interior of the house it is not
too much TO say that it lacks nothing
| Will Ioultl outl W tS value do d ICS-
idence, and is dlsfgured by nothing
which smells of money. the banquet
! ting hall, 50 feet long and 40 feet wide
with ceiling 10 feet in height, is the
only apartment in the house which is
intended for ceremonial use For a
wedding party, great family reunion
or conference of any sort, it is un-
questionably the finest place OF assem-
bly, to be found in any private house
in the world. The conservatory,
which opens into the b'uqne,,Ing hall,
i, IS feet square and IS ro)Ied with
pure palt sIis,. l'hc drawing room
opens tom one SIDE ri thls conserva-
tory and the breakfast room from the
o;her, while IN the story beneath there
is a swimming pool 60 feet in length,
and 80 feet in width. The great Ia
pestry gallery, which is IS feet in length,
/ and which contains the finest assort-
ment OF tapestries belonging to any
one private collector, opens INTO the IL
brary, measuring 62x4o feet. The
dark agate Columns If TINS room are
by no means It's mJst precious con-
tents, for Mr.. Vanderbilt has one of
the mos. remarkable collections of
books in America. His works on for
estry are housed in special building
for the neht of the students whom
he has called together at BIl,more.
But apart from this most remarkable
Of arboretal collections, about which
he had so much trouble with the New
York Custom House, his specially is
an assemblage OF ear ly editions OF the
classics.
Mr.. Clifford Pinchot, who had stud
led in ali the European schools o
aboriculture was induced TO take charge
!. of the work at Biltmore, where Mr.
| Vanderbilt thought that an experiment
, on large scale could advantageouslI
, be made. The 500 acres Of land de
voted 20 nursery growth will greatl,
facilitate the experimental work. Bu
= the $500 acres of woodland, which
] are now being commercially exploited
. will Certainly show once for all whe,h
e er scientific forestry is paying enter
prise. In order to make large foEes
e yield a steady income, it is necessar
q 10 divide it into 125 sections and Gu
Y the wood from one of these section
d each year. At the end Of I25 yeaI
- the tract from which the crop Of lun
e ter was taken will have matured ne
growth This, Of course seems vel