Abstract:
When George Washington Vanderbilt built Biltmore House in the 1890s, he was constructing more than just a large house. He envisioned his 125,000-acre estate as being self-sufficient, growing its own food, weaving its own cloth, and raising its own meat. Wright discusses how this philosophy carries on into the twenty-first century. One million people visit Biltmore annually and spend around $183.4 million. The estate employs 1,500 people, and its economic impact on western North Carolina is about $351 million annually.