Theft and Movies at Biltmore Estates

Back in the late 1970's, a security guard at Biltmore Estate began stealing books - hundreds of books - a few at a time.  During the filming of a movie there (yes, there have been a LOT of movies with the Biltmore Estate as a backdrop) in the early 1980's, the theft was realized, investigated, prosecuted, and resulted in a six year prison term for the dummy.

The collection of books at the Biltmore include copies of correspondence George Washington Vanderbilt had with others about the books - sort of an elite book club.  Correspondents included Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth, Oliver Cromwell...  and the books are first editions from as early as 1817.  Vanderbilt had about 60,000 books - almost half are still here at the Estate.  His library was his pride and joy.


This is a different photo than I showed earlier.  Notice the world globe is in a different location.  In the foreground, covered in plexiglass (is that to protect Napoleon's DNA?  nothing else in the house is covered in plexiglass...) is Napoleon's chess set and table.  To the right, in front of the windows, there are huge magnifying glasses on the table that readers can use to study maps, pictures, etc.  The "mural" on the ceiling is actually painted on canvas.

According to ArchitectsandArtisans.com:  Peering down on all in the library is an 18th-century Pellegrini painting known as “The Chariot of Aurora.” It once adorned the Pisani Palace in Venice. “Hunt probably found it and collected it,” she said. “The canvas was cut into 13 strips, shipped here, and then basically nailed up.” The ceiling painting depicts dawn and the light of learning.

(Who has the nerve to cut up a centuries-old piece of artwork???  Glad he did.)

According to Wikipedia, the grounds and buildings of Biltmore Estate have appeared in a number of major motion pictures:

• Tap Roots (1948) 
• The Swan (1956)
•  Being There (1979)
• The Private Eyes (1980)
•  A Breed Apart (1984)
•  Mr. Destiny (1990)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
•  Forrest Gump (1994)
•  Richie Rich (1994)
•  My Fellow Americans (1996)
•  Patch Adams (1998)
•  Return to the Secret Garden (2000)
• Hannibal (2001)
• The Clearing (2004)
• Marry Me (2010)

The estate also had a minor appearance in season eight of the CW television series One Tree Hill.

Again, I found the photo at  http://www.romanticasheville.com/biltmore_house.htm