| This past week my wife Georgia and I spent some time touring the 116-year-old Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. This 175,000-square-foot home on 8,000 acres still emanates its founder's--George Washington Vanderbilt's--illustrious grandeur... and it remains (remarkably) privately owned. Of course my inquiring SUCCESS mind wanted to figure out how. Although much of the robber-baron wealth of his grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt (earned through shipping and railroads in early 1800s) has dissipated through his heirs, Biltmore Estate continues to thrive because it was founded on a vision of sustainability. While many of the Gilded Age estates have been reduced to rubble, taken over by the state or sold to nonprofit entities, Biltmore remains a privately owned, for-profit working estate. Sustainability is the capacity to endure; to be diverse and productive over time; exhibiting the potential for long-term maintenance and well-being. George Vanderbilt's vision wasn't only to build the largest private home in America (which it is still today 100+ years later) but to also have it be self-supporting. In addition to the grand estate, George also had built the Biltmore School, scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms and a dairy. He also built the Biltmore Village for all those who would work on the estate, complete with a church. Today the enterprise is not only a profitable historical tourist attraction but also a worldwide...  | 
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