Decorative Restoration Students Beautify Biltmore

(Left) Decorative Restoration students regild walls at Biltmore House using Italian 22-carat gold leaf. (Right)Alison Houser, A-B Tech Decorative Restoration student, delicately places gold leaf on the walls of George Vanderdilt's bedroom. (Photos courtesy of Biltmore Estate)

A tiny fleck of gold dust hovering lands upon the head of Melissa England, one of several A-B Tech Decorative Restoration students assigned to regild the walls of George Vanderbilt at the Biltmore Estate. She pushes her "tip" - a thin brush made from a single row of badger armpit hairs - into her hair to grab a hint of static electricity and affix a square sliver of imported Italian gold to the wall of "Mr. V's bedroom."

England doesn't know what she's more excited about - the fact that she is gilding to restore the past or that she is doing so at Biltmore. "The Biltmore Estate has figured a lot in my family's history. Christmas, Easter, Festival of Flowers," England names the memories, smiles coyly and then leans to whisper, "My husband proposed to me in the banquet hall downstairs four years ago. He forgot to kneel he was so nervous but everyone seemed to be in on it, except me. I guess that happens a lot here, because it is Biltmore."

A-B Tech students in the Decorative Restoration program, the only one of its kind in the country, restored Mrs. Vanderbilt's ceiling last year, the ceiling of the Billiard Room in 2000, the Elevator staircase in 1997, the Library ceiling in 1995, the Breakfast Room ceiling in 1993 - to name a few.

Decorative Restoration, as Instructor Derick Tickle explains, is not the same as historic preservation, although the result is similar. In Decorative Restoration, for example, the students take paint samples to determine original paint color and texture and match to the precise color. In the case of Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom, the walls are being regilded with Italian 22 karat gold leaf, which originally adorned the walls. "Mr. V's room is being restored to its original appearance," Tickle said, adding the walls were covered with burlap, painted and gilded with gold leaf. "In the 1940s, it was painted over. It got dull and drab so they covered the gold with paint. In 1979, they decided to have it regilded with imitation gold and it turned like a grass green. Now, they have decided to restore it to its original state."

The regilding is part of the tour inquisitive visitors take there. "They all want to know if it's real gold and how it sticks and the processes," said Alison Houser, who has taken one of the positions closest to the crowd. "I love answering their questions. It's like preserving history. Biltmore is filled with things that are old and really reflect our collective history."

Houser, also an A-B Tech Decorative Restoration student, has a B.A. in art from Appalachian State. She returned to school at A-B Tech to solidify her skills and gain better employment.

An older man walking by lobbies for the attention of nearby student Sara Kate Eubanks, who also has a bachelor of art degree from UNCA. "Why use paint ..." he announces, "when you can use gold?" Eubanks laughs, explaining the price of the project and the elaborate measures of gilding. She also touches on the delicate nature of the gold. "If you took 1,000 sheets that we are working with and compressed it, it would be the width of a dime."

Not all students in Decorative Restoration, which has a waiting list, are artists like Eubanks. Kitty Moretz was an occupational therapist but says this is her "passion." Matt Howard worked in a restaurant. He moved to Asheville just to go to A-B Tech. Two Japanese students - Haruka Neilson and Yuki Murata - did the same. "In Japan, people would love to be able to learn this decorative restoration," Murata said, adding her father is an art producer and introduced her to the program, which is nationally renowned.

Eubanks said her family is steeped in historic preservation. "It's a way to make a difference."

Nurse of the Year

A-B Tech alumnus Ernest Grant is congratulated by President Bush during a ceremony at the White House. Grant, a nursing education clinician at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, was named the 2002 Nurse of the Year by Nursing Spectrum. A 1977 Practiccal Nurse Education graduate of A-B Tech and a native of Swannanoa, Grant has been teaching burn prevention since 1987. Nursing Spectrum is an RN-led communications company that celebrates nurses and the profession of nursing.

Learning From The Experts

Through a grant from Kiwanis, a team of 10 Russian dentists (pictured above with Mayor Charles Worley and Chair of Buncombe County Commissioners Nathan Ramsey) visited A-B Tech's Dental Clinic in March to learn about hygienists and assistants, infection control, clinic management, patient relations and dental education from the experts. "It was a business opportunity to look at dental businesses in the United States. They have dental nurses not hygienists like us," according to Kiwanis member and retired dentist Bill Satterfield. "They are getting loans to set up dental offices in Russia." The dentists, in mid-career, have moved from government-sponsored clinics into private practices in the budding democracy. The program was sponsored by Kiwanis, the Center for Citizen Initiatives in San Francisco and the State Department.

Donating Mice

Thanks to Holly Berry of Nature's Trading Company and Nancy Todd of Moon Mambo, who recently donated 100 mousepads each to Pam Silvers, Chairperson of Business Computer Technologies, for computer labs.

Climb Every Mountain

Yvonne Smith, a 1980 A-B Tech Nursing graduate, was featured in the magazine Many Hands. The article documented her recent expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak on the African continent and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. "We saw the most amazing things," Smith said of her life-altering journey.

A Little Bit Of Soul

Melodee Edington, Dental Lab Manager, lives up to her first name. Edington was recently pictured in The Asheville-Citizen Times Take 5 fronting United Soul. The band covers favorite Rhythm and Blues and Motown classics.

Memorial Scholarship

The Mary Hay Gwynn Memorial Scholarship, set up by employees as an annual scholarship, became an endowed scholarship this spring when her mother Mary Hay donated the funds. The scholarship will be offered annually to current or past Human Resources Development students who wish to pursue additional skills training.

Return to top