Making the dream come true
Charles Cain
Career and Business Coach | I help individuals become leaders | Click the "Let's talk about YOU" link to schedule a complimentary 60-minute Coaching Conversation
It’s been years since my wife and I did our first visit to the Biltmore estate in Asheville, NC. That first visit left us absolutely speechless. We have visited it many times since then, and we are always in awe of what the estate offers.
With that said, it almost disappeared. At one point the city of Asheville wanted to put a regional airport where the chateau stands. With George Washington Vanderbilt gone, and the Great Depression in full swing, it was the vision of people like Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, George Vanderbilt’s daughter, and William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, a grandson of George Vanderbilt, that kept the dream alive.
Cornelia was born at Biltmore. She knew what George’s desire was for Biltmore. To provide employment for the region, and a place of comfort, relaxation, and adventure for his family and friends. Cornelia and her husband opened the house up for visitors in the 1930s, kept people employed, and kept the dream alive.
William Cecil left his career on Madison Avenue to care for the estate. Many told him to consider dividing up the estate and build houses in the grounds. He refused. He was determined to keep Biltmore just the way it was in his grandfather’s time.
He and the Biltmore employees wrote the book on how to care for a historical property without government funding, grants from preservation societies, and having to pay taxes on the property which George didn’t have to be concerned with. It wasn’t easy, and yet the dream and drive persisted.
Today, Biltmore Estate is the most visited home in America. It generates a significant economic impact for the Asheville area. People come by the thousands each year to experience what George Vanderbilt’s family experienced in 1895.
It is also a testament to individuals that never give up on a dream, that invest themselves fully in that dream, trying new things, no longer doing things that don’t produce the results they desire, fulfilling the destiny that is within themselves, and not letting obstacles defeat themselves.