Last weekend I visiting Biltmore, the Vanderbilt Estate in Asheville, North Carolina to compare this home with Wharton’s house. The author specifically said she did not want to build a home as large and imposing as George Vanderbilt’s. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take picture inside Biltmore, but here is a picture of the exterior view. 
Wharton’s home totaled 16,000 square feet while Biltmore boasts 175,000 square feet. Moreover, Vanderbilt’s home contains 250 rooms. In comparison, The Mount seems more like a home than Biltmore. Even the tourist experience is very different in the two homes. At the Mount, visitors are allowed to sit on furniture and only on of the rooms, her library, is roped off from the visitor area. While tours are encouraged, visitors may wander through the rooms freely. At Biltmore, roped walkways guide visitors through the rooms systematically. Even for the modern day guest, the Mount allows for more freedom and comfort than does Biltmore.
Biltmore compares more readily with the hotels and resorts of Wharton’s fiction than with her personal home. These spaces appear most notably in The Children and often have negative affects on the upbringing of children, especially young women. For example, other characters of this novel discuss the case of Doll Westway, a teenage girl who commits suicide after moving from grand hotel to grand hotel during her childhood. Wharton seems to demonstrate that the anonymity of these spaces may prevent children from growing up.
I am currently reading Love in the Machine Age by Flloyd Dell. This book is helping em think about the novels in terms patriarchal systems. There’s a hurricane now, so I should probably go to Richmond. Be safe everyone!
Hi Katelyn!
You sound like you’re doing such interesting work – and since I’ve been working on all archaeology all the time, it’s making me miss my English-y side! I’ve never actually read Edith Wharton (she’s on my list!), but your research topic is really intriguing. I can certainly see how the freedom of different types of home-spaces would affect a child growing up. Is there any distinction made in Wharton’s work regarding indoor/outdoor spaces? I’m under the impression that outdoor playtime has big effect on kids, but I don’t really know the deep psychology of it, so I was just curious if this aspect is addressed at all in the works you’re looking at.
Good luck with everything!
Alex
Katelyn,
I’m definitely jealous! While most of my research has been conducted within the confines of Swem, it’s so great that you got to go to the Biltmore! I’ve always wanted to visit. It definitely interesting comparing how the upper-class in that time period lived. Growing up in the Northeast and going to school down here has opened my eyes to the major regional differences in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in terms of architecture. My mom’s always really liked mansions and plantation homes, so my family’s visited tons on vacations. I’ve always thought it is interesting, like you mentioned with Wharton’s views on the Vanderbilt’s place, how the elite spent their money on their houses. Some wanted grandiose, some wanted simple, and others based their homes on what their neighbors/friends/rivals had. Architecture’s definitely a way to find out more about a society and how they lived. Glad your research is going along well!
Hey Katelyn!
Kind of a random question, but would Wharton think that nomadic people never grow up, since they move from anonymous place to anonymous place? Or does the anonymity have more to do with the people one is around rather than the actual physical space? Or is her explanation only meant to apply to a particular set of westernized children?
Again, this is probably completely orthogonal to your main research question, but I was curious.
Safe travels, and thanks for your post!
-Adam