2011 November Newsletter
2011 Castles in the Clouds
BELLEVIEW BILTMORE – PLEASE JOIN OUR QUEST
Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “If
you have built castles in the air, your
work need not be lost; that is where they
should be. Now put the foundations
under them.”
Well, like many of you, one of my
‘castles in the air’ has been my dream of
the Belleview Biltmore being renovated
so that she can once again, welcome
guests to ‘step back in time’ as they tour
her grand ballrooms and enjoy staying
Restoration can become a reality, we we pull together
in her exquisite suites. But Mr. Thoreau
is right; dreams are just that, unless we take action to make them come true.
Time is growing short. The developers who currently own the resort property are trying to
convince everyone the Belleview Biltmore should be demolished, so they can replace her with
80 town homes. They are moving quickly and are becoming the only voice anyone hears about
the property. They are trying to convince everyone that the hotel is beyond saving. They claim
they have tried their best to sell the Belleview Biltmore, but despite their “best efforts” no one
has stepped forward.
Oh, please!
They haven’t even advertised her for sale on their own web site! To support their claim that no
one will purchase and renovate the hotel, they stated that they have offered the property to many
hoteliers – all of whom said they are not interested because the renovation would be too costly.
The developers are counting on the fact that most people don’t know hoteliers don’t usually
purchase and renovate properties. They normally lease a ‘turn-key’ operation, ready to operate
under their flag. When the former owners were planning a total renovation, many significant
hoteliers, including the Ritz and Waldorf, were interested. Nothing has changed about the hotel’s
location or potential to draw guests since then. The only change has been the ownership and their
motivation.
But the current owners have a valid point.
They say if someone disagrees with their assessment, then they should put their money where
their mouth is and purchase the property. Unfortunately, most of us who love the old hotel don’t
have the investment capital necessary to step up and make that purchase. That’s why I’m asking
everyone out there to join together in a quest to find an investor or group of investors before it is
too late.
I’ve written a novel that I’m hoping will pay tribute to the Belleview Biltmore and bring her
back to life in the memory and imagination of readers, while at the same time, showcasing her
potential and expanding the base of likely hotel guests, following her renovation. I’m asking
each person who wants to save the Belleview Biltmore to forward a copy of “Pearls” and/or
information about the mission behind the book, to all of their friends and associates.
The more we can get people talking about the hotel and its historic significance -- the more they
will see the potential for its success as a historic destination resort and/or location for a movie or
TV show. The more people start talking about wanting to stay at the hotel and perhaps having an
encounter with the spirits who live there, the more likely an investor will agree to spend money
to save the property from demolition.
I believe that together, we can find someone who would be willing to invest the necessary
capital to save the precious and historic Belleview Biltmore Resort, built in 1896 by Henry
B. Plant, and nicknamed “The White Queen of the Gulf” a few years later. I’m convinced
one of you knows that ‘someone’. Or perhaps you know someone who knows that special
investor. You’ll never know unless you try.
Henry David Thoreau also wrote, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in
common hours."
I believe that if we work together, we can meet with success. If you have any additional ideas for
getting our message out there, please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail, at:
[email protected] or go to www.SaveTheBiltmore.com
“PEARLS: SPIRITS OF THE BELLEVIEW BILTMORE”
I am happy to report that Smashwords
Publishing has just awarded “Pearls:
Spirits of the Belleview Biltmore”
Premium Status. That means, in addition
to being available at www.Amazon.com
in both paperback and Kindle e-book
formats, the e-book version of “Pearls”
will also soon be available on Apple
iTunes (for iPad and iPhone), Barnes &
Nobel Nook, Sony Reader, and Kobo
Reader. This is a wonderful turn of
events that will make it easier for anyone
to read the novel… and hopefully, reach
the ears of an investor, willing to
purchase and renovate the Belleview
Biltmore.
Front cover of "Pearls: Spirits of Belleview Biltmore"
December 2011 Newsletter
THE BILTMORE ESTATE
During a recent visit with my brother and
his family in Kingsport, Tennessee, I was
treated to a tour of the Biltmore Estate,
just outside of Ashville, North Carolina.
The tour was amazing, and left me even
more certain that the Belleview Biltmore
could be enormously successful, if
renovated and properly marketed.
Biltmore Estate was constructed as a
private home (and by “home”, I mean
“castle” -175,000 square feet) by the
Vanderbilt family in 1895. It remained a Biltmore Estate, December 2011
private Vanderbilt family retreat until the
1930s, when the family decided to open the estate to the public in order to create jobs and
generate income for the surrounding community during the Great Depression. It has been a
successful tourist attraction ever since.
The Biltmore Estate is linked to both the Plant family and the Belleview Biltmore. The
Vanderbilt family lived on 5th Avenue in New York, only a few blocks from Henry and Margaret
Plant. Both families made their fortunes in the shipping and railroad business, so undoubtedly,
they were well acquainted. Additionally, the Vanderbilt family spent several winters at what was
then known as the Belleview Hotel.
In the early 1900s, John McEntee Bowman decided to build the finest hotel empire in the nation.
He wanted the name of his hotel chain to be synonymous with grandeur, so he wrote a letter to
George Vanderbilt, requesting permission to use the name of his incredible estate. With
Vanderbilt’s approval, Bowman built several magnificent Bowman-Biltmore hotels and
purchased a handful of existing hotels that measured up to his high standards. The Belleview
Hotel was among the latter, purchased and renamed the Belleview Biltmore by Bowman in 1919,
following the death of Morton Plant.
Today, only a few Biltmore hotels remain, including: Providence, RI; Santa Clara, CA; Phoenix,
AZ; Coral Gables, FL; Los Angeles, CA; and Havana, Cuba. The Belleview Biltmore is the only
Biltmore hotel currently on the “endangered” list.
BILTMORE ESTATE IS A SUCCESSFUL, YEAR-ROUND ATTRACTION
My brother, sister-in-law and I drove
two hours from their home in Kingsport
to the Biltmore Estate, located just
outside of Ashville, NC. They go to
visit Biltmore several times per year and
take out-of-town guests whenever
possible.
When we arrived at the estate, we
entered through a gate and then had to
drive a couple miles to the ticketing
building. There, we stood in line to
The evening Christmas lights tour is $79.00 per adult pick-up our pre-ordered tickets to tour
the Estate after dark ($79 each) and
enjoy the Christmas lights and décor. We also stopped to watch a brief, continuous loop movie
about the building of Biltmore. Because my sister-in-law and brother plan to visit several more
times throughout the year, they each paid an additional $120 each for a 12 month pass, which
allows them to return and tour the Estate for free (Christmas light tours not included), dine in the
on-site restaurants and receive a 10% discount on purchases.
After purchasing tickets, we piled back into our car and drove through another manned gate, then
down a narrow road for another 3 miles, until we reached the parking lot for guests.
From there, we boarded a shuttle bus to take us the last 2 miles to the Biltmore Estate. The place
was crowded. Throughout our visit, several shuttles stayed busy transporting people back and
forth between parking lots and the estate, a dozen or so visitors at a time. I was told the number
of visitors during daylight hours is pretty consistent all year long, but since the main house closes
at 5:00 p.m. most of the year, the crowds usually thin out after dark.
For Christmas Light tours, people were asked to line up at various stations, according to the time
on their tickets. Groups were staggered in fifteen minute intervals to keep the flow moving
through the building.
I would love to post more pictures, but no photographs are permitted inside the Estate. They do,
however, take (and sell) photographs of guests. They also sell books, postcards and a ton of other
souvenir items imprinted with the Biltmore logos.
Docents were posted here and there to answer guest questions. Several magnificent rooms were
open for viewing (from behind velvet ropes, of course) on the first floor and they had a group
singing Christmas carols in the front room. After touring the dining room, the library, the music
room and reading room, we trudged up stairs to see a few bedrooms and a parlor on the next two
floors that were staged to portray life in the early to mid-1900s. Most of the rooms are
closed/locked from view, leaving much to the imagination, but the rooms on display were
wonderful.
After touring the upper floors, we walked downstairs to the basement, where more large photos
were on display, along with snippets of interesting historic information about the building of the
Estate. One of the old kitchens, the servant’s dining room, a laundry, the bedrooms of three
servants, and the gym were all staged as if in the early to mid-1900s. They were amazing, as was
the old-fashioned bowling alley and indoor pool.
After our tour, we were ushered back outside, where some of the out-buildings have been
renovated into souvenir and Christmas shops. The former horse barn has been converted into a
restaurant. We shopped, we ate, and then we left around 9:30. People were still arriving, even
though the last tour is at10:00 p.m.
If we had more time, we would have driven another three miles, where we could have stopped
and tasted wine made from grapes grown on the property and perhaps joined a group for trail
horse rides. Another two miles past that, and we could have stayed at the inn on the property,
which was built in 2001 to meet the demand for people who wanted to stay on site.
The two-lane roads throughout the property are narrow, dark and crowded, but people seemed to
have no trouble piling into their cars and driving from location to location.
The Vanderbilt family still owns Biltmore Estate, but visitors pay for its maintenance and
upkeep. The family is fabulously wealthy, but they don’t use that wealth to finance Biltmore.
They are smarter than that. They invested in the renovation and staging of the estate, marketed
her properly and now that investment is paying off.
The Biltmore estate draws a million visitors per year by offering people things that the Belleview
Biltmore can also offer. A step back in time. A beautiful setting. Access to local attractions.
It broke my heart to see what could be done with the Belleview Biltmore if only she were owned
by someone who could see her potential, restore her and market her properly. Please do not
believe the developers who swear the hotel cannot succeed if renovated. She can be restored and
successfully compete for tourism dollars, earning the owners a handsome profit.
The primary difference between the Biltmore estate and the Belleview Biltmore is that the
Biltmore estate has a champion, while the Belleview Biltmore is owned by developers who do
not consider her value beyond the ground she rests upon. This attitude over the past few decades
is the primary reason she is in such dire straits right now.
And please don’t believe amenities/entertainments must be on-site to be of value. At the
Biltmore Estate, you must drive two to five miles between locations of interest. Everyone does it
without complaint… even when the weather is bad and even when there is lots of traffic. Heck,
most times there is lots of traffic… and twisty, poorly-lighted two-lane roads. Visitors embrace
all of that as a part of the experience. They would do the same thing if taking a ferry between the
Belleview Biltmore and Clearwater Beach and fishing charter boats. They would also be happy
to take day trips via shuttle to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, the Sarasota museums and St
Petersburg Pier. They would enjoy ghost hunts on-site and Christmas light tours. They would
love strolling the gardens and touring orchid exhibits. They would come. By the millions.
INTERESTING PICTURES/INFORMATION USED IN CREATING BELLEVIEW
BILTMORE RENOVATION RENDERINGS:
Click on the link below to see the Wade
Trim project site for the Belleview
Biltmore. It contains a few great historic
pictures of the Belleview Biltmore, plus
information about how they were able
to create renderings for the potential
redesign of the various ballrooms and
cottages, using old photos. Hopefully an
investor or group of investors will be
found soon, while there is still time to
save the hotel and complete the muchanticipated
renovation.
http://www.wadetrim.com/resources/co
View of the Belleview Biltmore circa 1960
nf/belleview.pdf
“PEARLS” NOVEL FINALLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE!
I’ve decided to self-publish “Pearls”, the first installment in my “Spirits of Belleview Biltmore”
series. The reason for this decision is to raise awareness about the Belleview Biltmore and to
hopefully find an investor or group of investors who may not know she exists, before developers
sway public opinion and convince those in power to allow her demolition. The cover contains
information about attempts to preserve the hotel, and at the back of the book (normally reserved
for “About the Author”) is more information about the hotel and its current dilemma.
I’ll send out a brief release as soon as “Pearls” is offered for purchase, but it should be available
on Amazon in paperback format by the first of the year and available as an e-book on both
Amazon and iTunes shortly after that. I am also pursuing an audio version, so stay tuned.
Draft cover for the upcoming novel, "Pearls"