Family Life on the Estate:
Edith Stuyvesant Dresser
The Biltmore Estate would come to host many fancy parties, but the most important one would occur on Christmas Eve 1895, when the house was opened to guests for the first time after the six year construction. Though the house was often used for parties, dancing, and concerts, it was also the home George Vanderbilt would start his family in. In June 1898, after a short engagement, George Washington Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser at a ceremony in Paris. The couple then spent the rest of the summer traveling around Europe and then settled into the Biltmore that fall season (“Biltmore Stories,”) (Carley & Rennicke, 2000).
George Vanderbilt holding newborn Cornelia
On August 22, 1900, George and Edith welcomed their only child, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, into the world. Cornelia’s birth drew copious amounts of attention from both local and national newspapers. In honor of her birth, a Cucumber Magnolia tree was planted in the Biltmore Estate Gardens where it still resides today (“Biltmore Stories,”). The Biltmore Estate was now truly a family home that hosted children’s tea parties and employee Christmas parties. However, the happy family was not together long. George Washington Vanderbilt passed away suddenly in March 1914 after an appendectomy. Cornelia was only thirteen years old and the entire family and all of the estate employees were grief stricken by his sudden and untimely death (Carley & Rennicke, 2000).