This page is a documentation of my effort to reverse-engineer or obtain a complete floor plan of the Biltmore House located in Asheville,
NC, as the current house owners appear to refuse to sell prints of the original plans, for which I would gladly pay large sums of money.
If the site gets enough traffic, I will add forums and a wiki where users may add their own efforts in this vein. If you wish to
contribute in the mean time, please email me. (Include any citation information
you would like included if your work is added to the site). For now, my own work is shown below:
Most of the ceiling heights then follow a pattern from the first floor: 20 foot tall 1st floor, 14 foot 2nd floor, 12 foot 3rd floor, and 10 foot 4th floor. The main elevator rises to these levels as well as down to the basement. Floors three and four are all within the roof excepting the rear towers that include the rooms over the owner's suite. There, the owner's suite has an 18 foot ceiling raising all the floors above by four feet, and the third floor of both towers is not in the roof. The thickness of the structural floors is two feet, nominally. Starting from the south, these are the other exceptions to the ceiling heights:
1. The library pavilion is 26 feet on the first floor to accommodate the balcony level of the library, but the floors above follow the 14-12-10 foot pattern resulting in stairs from each level of the tapestry gallery wing to the library pavilion. This not the same as the half-floors of the service and bachelor wings.
2. The winter garden obviously has no floor above it and I am uncertain of the peak height of its glass roof. The roof over portions of the gallery that surround the winter garden are just a step down form the second floor.
3. The banquet hall rises to a peak of 60 feet, but there is still a 10 foot floor with service rooms above it that is very narrow and accessible from a separate third floor staircase.
4. The bachelor wing follows an entirely different pattern: 14 foot 1st floor, 12 foot 2nd floor, 10 foot 3rd floor, and 8 foot 4th floor which is only an attic with no windows, but is accessible by the service stair tower adjacent. This stair tower has landings on floors 1, 1½, 2½, and 3½. This is how Hunt labeled these four levels. Levels 1½ and 2½ access the guest rooms over the billiard room, which are 6 feet higher, by means of stairs from the bachelor hallways, as the banquet hall height prevents any connection to the rest of the 2nd floor of the house. Only floor 1½ has guest rooms. Floor 2½ has servant rooms. The stairs also go to the basement and sub-basement.
5. The servant wing is even more complex, though its stair tower and elevator stop at the same levels as the bachelor wing. The butler's pantry has the 20 foot ceiling of the main block allowing it a balcony level of sorts, with three 8 foot levels above it including Mrs. Vanderbilt's bath and dressing rooms, a maid's sitting room, and a bathroom for the tower suite of bedrooms. The more northern end of the servant wing follows the same pattern as the bachelor wing with 14-12-10-8 foot ceilings, again with the top level being just an attic.
Below is a compilation of official house tour maps released at various times:
These are sourced primarily from the 2009 Biltmore House Guide and 2001 "A Guide to Biltmore Estate"
For both Biltmore and Stan Hywet, after creating my initial plans (an educated guess from much research and many resources), I've since had input provided from descendants of both families. As such, I have more detail I need to include now, but haven't yet found the time.
