“It’s warm now. Maybe not so much back in ‘89. A brief scan of the interwebs indicates the previous winter of 1888 was cold. They’ve also got a boiler in the basement that could’ve come out of the Titanic, so it probably did get chilly there.”
What I said was: “NC is a warm weather state so wouldn’t you want the pool to be outside? Or even somewhere with windows?”
Who would build a swimming pool in a dank, dark basement? They had more money than they knew what to do with so heating an outside pool wouldn’t be an issue, but even if you didn’t do that, wouldn’t normal people build it somewhere with a better view?
The Victorians had a different outlook on many things. I'm not going to judge them based on 2018 sensibilities. I think a lot of the 'amenities' of Biltmore is simply George Vanderbilt indulging himself with his vast wealth.
I have questions regarding the necklace conversation. There are many charms on the Gloria Vanderbilt necklace.
What if each charm has a representation? What if we view the necklace as we would a military uniform?
When I look at a military uniform, I denote rank, number of campaigns, and ribbons/awards , (think charms for these evil b-turds).
If one was to be in the ‘club’ then the charms would be recognized the same way I would read a uniform. The necklace would denote the rank in their hierarch. If we were to compare similar style necklaces from these individuals we may determine their position in their cult.