The Farm Behind THE GLITZ:Biltmore Estate remains a working farm in the spirit of its origin 120 years ago

摘要

The opulent 250-room Biltmore, in Asheville, N.C., is most famous as the largest private home in U.S. history. Finished in 1895 by shipping and railroad heir George W. Vanderbilt, it's less appreciated as a working farm designed to be a self-sufficient island in what was then a remote mountain community (visit www.biltmore.com)."I always tell people it was probably of necessity they wanted to raise their own food because there wasn't a whole heck of a lot outside the front gate,"says Ted Katsigianis, Biltmore's vice president for agriculture and environmental sciences. An animal scientist by trade, Katsigianis first came to work at Biltmore 30 years ago at the behest of William A.V. Cecil, George Vanderbilt's grandson.