MADAME XHALES AT BILTMORE ESTATES

MADAME XHALES AT BILTMORE ESTATE

BY REGINA LYNCH-HUDSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY COURTLAND BIVENS III

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Historic house museums―such as the world-famous Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned gilded mansion in the United States, have long paid homage to illustrious proprietors, like George Washington Vanderbilt II, the royalty behind architectural marvels.

Wealthy art collector, philanthropist, and socialite Vanderbilt commissioned acclaimed New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, to design the Châteauesque-style manor that’s become the virtual Taj Mahal of America ─ attracting over 1.7 million visitors per year from all over the globe. The opulent 175,000-square-foot manor was constructed between 1889-1895, nestled in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. The French Renaissance-inspired castle rolled out its welcome mat to Vanderbilt’s family and friends on Christmas Eve 1895, but opened for public tours in 1930─showcasing a glimpse of designated rooms and spaces. The behind-the-scenes enormity of the sprawling spectacle comprises 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, an indoor swimming pool, bowling alley and gymnasium.

But who made up the talented workforce that made Vanderbilt's vision a reality? www.biltmore.com After decades of trekking the iconic site—both as a travel writer and impassioned descendent of a skilled Biltmore artisan, I was finally able to see my pleas and prayers fulfilled. Long-overdue permanent exhibition ‘Building Biltmore House’ premiered in the estate’s basement-level, recognizing the sweat and toil of nine laborers, including my great-great-grandfather, Lead Blacksmith, George Washington Richard Henry Lee Payne─no longer among the legions of faceless workers who labored on estate grounds. Spanning seven-years, a proficient community of roughly 500 craftsmen (estimately, over 50% African-Americans)

painstakingly worked to erect America’s Largest Home®. Born some twenty-four years before tycoon George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914), industrious George Washington