
The Last Castle
The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Denise Kiernan
-
By:
-
Denise Kiernan
From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Girls of Atomic City comes the fascinating true story behind the magnificent Gilded Age mansion Biltmore - the largest, grandest residence ever built in the United States.
Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York's best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House.
Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness. He summoned the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to tame the grounds, collaborated with celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to build a 175,000-square-foot chateau, filled it with priceless art and antiques, and erected a charming village beyond the gates. Newlywed Edith was now mistress of an estate nearly three times the size of Washington, DC and benefactress of the village and surrounding rural area. When fortunes shifted and changing times threatened her family, her home, and her community, it was up to Edith to save Biltmore - and secure the future of the region and her husband's legacy.
The story of Biltmore spans World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, and generations of the famous Vanderbilt family, and features a captivating cast of real-life characters including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Teddy Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent, James Whistler, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. The Last Castle is the unique American story of how the largest house in America flourished, faltered, and ultimately endured to this day.
©2017 Denise Kiernan (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...




















People who viewed this also viewed...


















Very disappointed.
Like listening to someone describing paint drying
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Tough to get through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fabulous book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So much more
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story, mediocre narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting history!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderful backstory to America's royalty
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Magical Biltmore & Inspiring Vanderbilt’s
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lovely writer, stoic narrator
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.