Kattie Iwanski - Biltmore Estate Landscape

The original Biltmore landscape was approximately 125,000 acres which has since been reduced to 8,000 acres (Andes, 2012). The deforested land was purchased by George W. Vanderbilt with the intention of restoring the land to build a summer home in the hills of North Carolina (Andes, 2012). Vanderbilt recruited landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1888 to design a self-sustaining landscape on the property (Andes, 2012). Olmsted utilized balance, color, unity, layering, and proportion in order to create a cohesive landscape across the span of the estate without continuous repetition (Andes, 2012). In terms of layering, instead of planting a colony of flowers around the perimeter of the trees, Olmsted used the concept of proportion to spread the foliage evenly by decreasing in size slowly from a large tree to a small tree followed by a shrub which flows into a bed of flowers (Andes, 2012). In addition, areas in the gardens are separated by colors which entails flora being grouped by warm shades like orange, yellow, and red together while cool colors like blue, purple, and green are clustered (Andes, 2012). These small, intricate details and intentions are some aspects that separate the Biltmore landscape from other estate grounds. 

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