The Biltmore Estate has a Facebook page and today I learned something — the upcoming movie, Hunger Games, was partially filmed near there. I wonder what GWV would think? :-)
There is a great discussion going on at the page though – name movies filmed at Biltmore!
Can you name a few? Give up? Check out a list here.
Came across this while browsing some historical newspapers – it describes the Commodore’s letter of benevolence for Vanderbilt University.
Source — Fayetteville Observer, 20 Jan 1876, pg. 3. Available online at Chronicling America.
While doing some Vanderbilt research tonight, I cam across this photo of Nieves Orozco taken in 1947 by Fritz Henle. I thought it was just gorgeous so I’m sharing it here.
Nieves was a model of Diego Rivera’s and wife of Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Frederick Vanderbilt Field was a 2nd great-grandson of the Commodore.
From the State Library of Florida’s online Flickr collection
This photo was taken at the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida March 14, 1896. Pictured in the photograph are Left to Right: Colonel Philip M. Lydig, Miss Helen Morton, Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, Miss Amy Townsend, Captain A.T. Rose, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Miss Edith Bishop, Miss Mabel Gerry, Thomas Cushing, Edward Livingston, Dudley Winthrop, Craig Wadsworth, Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt, Lispenard Stewart, Harry P. Whitney, Miss Sybil Sherman, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt would be Alice Claypoole Gywnne – her daughters Gladys & Gertrude are also here. Several months later, Gertrude & Harry would marry. I’m not sure which Cornelius this is in the photo, but maybe her son Cornelius?
I love it when I come across a new Vanderbilt connection. :-). This past weekend I visited Augusta, Georgia for a work conference. While touring the Morris Museum of Art, the docent happened to make a casual reference to “the hotel that the Vanderbilt’s stayed at” called the Bon Air. Ooh! Vanderbilts & Augusta?
So, of course I have to look it up. And, interestingly enough, the topic happened to coincide with a comment I received on the blog back in September.
Bon Air Vanderbilt Hotel
The Bon Air Hotel in Augusta, Georgia opened in 1923 and was one of 4 hotels the Vanderbilts established so they could cover every season. It seems Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt was the family member behind them (at least initially; he died in 1915). The 4 distinct hotels were:
With the completion of the Bon Air Vanderbilt, the hotels under Mr. Marshall’s direction will provide every seasonal requirement; a winter resort in Augusta, a summer resort in Newport, an any-time-of-the-year vacation spot in Porto Rico and an all-year home or temporary stopping place in New York. — Morning Olympian newspaper 11/28/1922.
The hotel closed eventually and is now a residence for the elderly. It looks like a beautiful building though. Wish I would have had time to at least drive by while in town.
Two Vanderbilt hotels I’ve now learned about within the past 30 days. Kinda neat. :-)
From the St. Petersburg Times newspaper of St. Petersburg, Florida
June 22, 1901 (pg. 2)
According to this excerpt, in the first city directory of New York published more than 100 years prior, the Van der Bilt’s listed were not members of the Commodore’s family.
Source: Google News Archive
Right now, my husband and I are watching the movie Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. This is one of his favorite movies and we hope one day to actually visit the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island where the movie takes place.
Vanderbilt Suite at the Grand Hotel
Well, he just told me that there is a suite there called the Vanderbilt Suite, so off I go to find out what the association could be and guess what I learn – the hotel was opened in 1887 by a group of investors headed by the Commodore! Very cool. I must research this further.
