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Winter is a perfect time to visit Biltmore and admire the combination of architecture, art and sculpture that makes Biltmore House so amazing. In case you don’t have time to notice every little detail, we’ve asked employees to share their favorite things in the house so you too can appreciate what makes Biltmore special. Check back next week for another insider’s favorite!
Leslie Klingner has been Biltmore’s Curator of Interpretation for nearly seven years, and has an unusual view of her favorite to recount.
“I love the Guastavino tile vaulting throughout Biltmore House, especially in the swimming pool,” she said. “I got to observe it from a unique perspective one day — from the bottom of the pool when I retrieved a lost pearl earring that a guest had dropped.”
The ceiling in the swimming pool was designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino, who came to America in the 1880s and quickly became known for perfecting a unique system of building tiled ceiling vaults including the first New York City subways.
“His work is a technical feat built on ancient Catalan traditions,” Leslie said. You can see more of his skills by looking up at the ceiling as you walk from the Winter Garden into the Billiard Room.
Guastavino retired and built a home in Black Mountain, where he lived until his death in 1908. The Basilica of St. Lawrence in downtown Asheville — where his crypt is located – also displays his tilework and vaulting expertise.
When was the last time the pool was filled with water and/or used for swimming? We’ve always wanted to know.
That’s a good question! It’s been many years but I will check with our curators and find out.
Is it possible to share with us an old photo of it filled? Always wanted to see that.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of the pool filled with water.
According to our curators, the last documented time the pool was holding water was 1935, when an employee reported that he slipped while cleaning the pool, fell into the water, and “was knocked senseless.” Additionally, there are several reports of the pool being filled for a house party in the early 1950s. The pool was filled the night before, and by the next morning it was empty due to leaks. While the pool may be repairable, filling the pool with water today poses other challenges. We are concerned about the safety of our guests; plus, a large body of water in Biltmore House would generate great amounts of humidity in the air which would be damaging to our collection. As such, there are no plans to repair the pool and fill it with water.
Thanks! If the audio tour gets updated, it would be nice to hear some stories about the pool.
Thank you, Judy, for the factual information on the filling and on the work done on the indoor pool, or Tank, as it would have been called by many house guests. Indoor pools were certainly not uncommon in gilded age mansions. Many have not survived, however. We should all be grateful that the tank at BH has survived in pristine condition.
That was an interesting anecdote that Leslie wrote about finding the lost pearl.
We love the curatorial stories and additions to the Biltmore Blog.
Hello,
I have been at Biltmore last spring. A great building I love it.
There is so much to see.
I was very surprised when I saw the indoor pool, it ist great.
Kind regards from Germany
Ursula Schmidt
I love Biltmore! I have visited Biltmore twice and plan on coming back again soon. In the comments on facebook someone asked “how was the pool heated?”. I know they had heat throughout much of the house so I wondered did they just heat the room the same way they heated the rest of the house or was the actual pool heated and if so, how. Thanks!
Maria Staton
Thanks to our Museum Services staff for the following info (they are incredibly helpful!): Busbee Reservoir, located on the estate, supplied water for the Swimming Pool. Cold water poured in through the large standing pipe. A rubber hose with a brass nozzle blew steam into the water, heating the water to a comfortable temperature.
I too was wondering when the pool was last used. Also when the outdoor pool was taken out (was not part of the origional property)? We have been visiting Biltmore for 23 years and always experience something different.
The outdoor pool was removed in the 1990s because it had deteriorated and was a safety concern.
I have always heard, and it must have been in “Lady on the Hill,” that John Cecil had it filled once during his residency. The water leaked out due to the cracked grout between the tiles, pouring into basement or sub-basement areas.
Are there basements under the pool area? What do they contain?
There is basement space below the pool area; however, according to our Museum Services staff, the ceiling clearance is very low. Currently, the space is used as storage for building materials.
That may have been the reports from the 1950s mentioned above. Thanks for your information!
This comment is basement related (although I’d like to see a picture of the pool filled with water also). We have been talking about Biltmore at work and none of us remember seeing where the wine was stored in the house. Is there a wine cellar in the basement?
Mr. Vanderbilt did have a wine cellar in the sub-basement of Biltmore House–an area not open to the public. It has not been used in decades. Thanks for your interest!
Could you please tell me if you have ever done a Guastavino themed tour for a special audience? I would love to see all of his work at the estate in the presence of a knowledgeable guide. I wonder if an architectural society or historical society has undertaken to do this with your cooperation, perhaps? Many thanks.
Hi Katherine. We have not done a special tour about Guastavino, but have included mention of his work in our behind the scenes tours. Great idea and we will share that with the team that develops our guided tours!