Whenever you tell anyone that you are visiting Asheville, North Carolina, the first reply is almost always, "You are going to see The Biltmore, right?" So, of course, we went to the Biltmore. George Vanderbilt, grandson of famous industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt, first came to the Asheville area in 1888. He envisioned his "country home" and constructions soon commenced.
Two Hundred and Fifty rooms, built over the next 6 years made a tremendous impact on this area, and on future generations. This is the breathtaking view you receive when you walk over the hill from parking.
According the Biltmore's website, the home officially opened on Christmas eve of 1895 to family and friends. His home, spread over 4 acres of floor space, included 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.
You can't help but try to imagine living during the Gilded Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, being driven down the long path in a horse drawn carriage, dressed extravagantly for the party of the year. We purchased the audio tour, which allowed us to learn many fun facts about the rooms we toured. The kid's tour was from the perspective of their dog. The first stop is this beautiful atrium.
A variety of period costumes were on display during our visit. Most of these were from movies set in a similar time period as the Biltmore was active and lively. I, for one, really enjoyed this special touch.
This is their dining hall.
Imagine gentlemen arriving for a full night of food and festivities in attire like this.
This was one of my favorite rooms. The walls are covered in leather! And, if you look closely, you can see the "secret" door. Can you find it?
This was one of my very favorite gowns on display. I can't remember what movie it was from.
They had a large display of prints by Albrech Durer...one of the great artists we study in CC.
This was another piece of artwork by Durer. It hangs above a fire mantle that he carved.
Here is the fireplace mantle. In the middle you can see the initials A.D.
The view from the Portico. I believe that Vanderbilt actually deforested this area, and then had a landscape architect redesign and plant this view.
The next several pictures are in the library. This is the hand painted ceiling.
There are "hidden" doors on either side of the fireplace, on the second floor.
Every homeschool mom's dream.....a room filled from floor to ceiling with books. Vanderbilt was an avid reader, and some of his favorite books were on display around the home.
This is one tapestry in a room full of tapestries.
I love this dress too :)
I loved this gown because it reminds me of an Avon figure my grandma had. I attempted to draw the figure in high school for a costume design project I was working on.
This was Mrs. Edith Vanderbilt's bedroom. The walls were covered in gold. Real gold.
This one is for the kids....who knows who this is?
I can't remember the story behind this bed curtain...but it was good...
This was their bowling alley :)
This kitchen was the heart of the home. Imagine the meals and party food made here. It's not as big as you would expect
You can imagine the men enjoying an after dinner cigar here.
After the tour, we were all really hungry. I packed a lunch, but didn't want to drag it somewhere pretty to eat and then have to carry the cooler around. So...the kids ate it while sitting in the trunck, haha
The afternoon was spent touring the gardens and outdoor areas of this estate. Of course, Jeremy had a football. What else do you expect the boys to do on this large, green lawn?
Just some close up shots of the home.
This is the side view, as if looking from the gardens.
Besides the fact that the back of my ankles were bleeding from my shoes, I really enjoyed the afternoon in the gardens.
I thought this was interesting, and I'm guessing quite purposeful to have one orange marigold in a sea of yellow. Marigold's always make me think of my Great- Grandma Blanche's farm house in Ohio.
This is about a quarter of the rose garden. It was in full bloom about 3 weeks before we came, which means most of the flowers were still gorgeous!
So sweet
This has become our persona Lilla Rose flower.
I love this one too!
They had several large green houses. This area had some unique orchids.
Spider orchid
This is the front view of the greenhouse. Cool building.
Jeremy with his two girls.
We couldn't help but feel romantic here
Hannah was always looking for photo ops.
We took a long walk around the garden paths, looking for ponds. Finally found one.
This little guy was a favorite though.
This is the view when standing in front of the Biltmore, looking toward the bridge and parking area.
Some of the trees on the property were massive! The kids and I were able to "hug" this one.
Before leaving, we decided to check out the winery.
Jeremy and I got to taste test several different types of wine. This was a neat experience. We are not big wine drinkers, however some of Jeremy's clients have inspired us to try out different varieties on occasion. Tasting 6 or 7 different varieties here and being able to compare them helped us both know what we like, and what we don't like. The gave the kids grape juice, which they thought was really cool.
So, we visited The Biltmore, as everyone told us to. Will we go back? Probably not. This is one of those "been there, done that" places for us. That's not to say that we didn't have a great time, because we did. It was a beautiful, relaxing day (besides the bleeding ankles of course :) A perfect end to our Asheville vacation.
