{"product_id":"lady-on-the-hill-how-biltmore-estate-became-an-american-icon-9780471758181","title":"Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Estate Became an American Icon","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Howard E. Covington\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Wiley\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Wiley\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: History - General\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the Back Cover\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is the epitome of Gilded Age splendor: the largest private home ever built in the United States, a French château graced with more than 50,000 priceless furnishings and objets d'art, set in an enchanting rural paradise, designed by America's foremost nineteenth-century landscape architect. A National Historic Landmark, George Vanderbilt's dream home welcomes visitors to experience its glorious past as well as its exciting future. Once described by David Rockefeller as a \"white elephant,\" what makes Biltmore Estate as popular a destination as Monticello, Mount Vernon, and Colonial Williamsburg?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLady on the Hill \u003c\/i\u003etells the inspiring story of the thirty-five-year effort to restore this fading beauty to her former glory--all without a penny of government funding or outside foundation grants. Central to this true-life tale of rebirth against the odds is George Vanderbilt's grandson William A. V. Cecil, a well-mannered, highly educated man who, when caught up in an idea, becomes a whirling dervish, generating enough energy and enthusiasm to motivate everyone around him. And, according to author Howard Covington Jr., Cecil gets a week's worth of ideas before he's done with his Monday morning shave. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1950s, attorneys, financial managers, and tax accountants were united in advising Cecil and his brother, George, to sell off the estate's 12,000 acres in order to create a suburban -subdivision. Cecil quietly ignored this advice and came up with a better idea: over the next four decades, he would turn this down-at-the-heels mansion that was a drain on the family business into the most successful, privately preserved historic site in the United States, perhaps even the world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCecil succeeded beyond even his wildest dreams. Not only did he raise the money needed to begin and continue a painstaking, decades-long restoration of the house itself, but he also achieved a goal that even his grandfather had found elusive. He made Biltmore Estate a self-sustaining, working enterprise that included a vibrant tourist destination, a working winery and vineyard, and a farming operation; employed hundreds of people; and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy every year. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLady on the Hill \u003c\/i\u003etells a lively tale of eccentric, upper-crust characters, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and one man's determination, innovation, loyalty, and stubborn persistence to succeed against the odds. It also provides a brilliant, if unorthodox, model for anyone involved with the preservation and restoration of a historic home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":45149776674967,"sku":"9780471758181","price":1957.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780471758181.webp?v=1769207059","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/lady-on-the-hill-how-biltmore-estate-became-an-american-icon-9780471758181","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}