page_title: Biltmore Estate
section_title: Second floor
hierarchical_section_title: Biltmore Estate / Interiors / Second floor
caption_attribution_description: English: Master bedroom in the Biltmore Estate.
context_page_description: Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main residence, is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet of floor space. Still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants, it remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions.
context_section_description: The second floor is accessed by the cantilevered Grand Staircase of 107 steps spiraling around a four-story, wrought-iron chandelier holding 72 light bulbs. The second-floor Living Hall is an extension of the grand staircase as a formal hall and portrait gallery, and was restored to its original configuration in 2013. Several large-scale masterpieces are displayed in the hall, including two John Singer Sargent portraits of Biltmore's architect, Richard Morris Hunt, and landscaper, Frederick Law Olmsted, both commissioned for the home by Vanderbilt. Located nearby in the south tower is George Vanderbilt's gilded bedroom with furniture designed by Hunt. His bedroom connects to his wife's Louis XV-style, oval-shaped bedroom in the north tower through a Jacobean carved oak paneled sitting room with an intricate ceiling.
  The suite of rooms includes:
  the Damask Room, with silk damask draperies and distinct damask-style wallpaper;
  the Claude Room, named after one of Vanderbilt's favorite artists, Claude Lorrain;
  the Tyrolean Chimney Room, featuring an overmantel made of Kachelofen; and
  the Louis XV Room, the most grand, so named due to its architectural scheme and furnishings that were very popular in the late nineteenth century. The suite was restored and opened to the public for the first time in 100 years in 2011.
caption: Master bedroom of George Vanderbilt
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot ELPH 350 HS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2017:06:17 09:47:00", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "248", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "6982", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "19444", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5605", "EXIF ExposureTime": "4/5", "EXIF FNumber": "18/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:06:17 09:47:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:06:17 09:47:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "5/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "59/16", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "59/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "9/2", "EXIF SubSecTime": "33", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "33", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "33", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "5184", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3888", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "5184", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3888", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "6872", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/49", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "486000/23", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Portrait", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": ""}