Biltmore

We were travelling in the Asheville, North Carolina area and took the opportunity to visit the Biltmore Estate. This is the largest private home in North America and is open for tours.

This is a well preserved time capsule as to how the ultra wealthy lived 100 years ago.

Frederick Olmsted, the highly respected landscape architect, designed the entry to this mansion to provide a sense of intrigue as you made your way along the 30 minute drive to the house.

We arrived somewhat before the official opening time and approached this rather impressive gate house.
They asked us to pull into a nearby parking lot while they got things in place to be able to admit us.

The entry area parking lot is beautifully landscaped

We waited a bit until we could start the long drive to the estate thru beautiful landscape

There is a 10 minute walk to the estate from the nearest parking lots

This is a nice part of the experience as you cannot see the home until you emerge from the short walk

It presents itself as you emerge from your walk

The first views are impressive

If you wish you can follow this walk to the entrance to the house

We followed the suggestion to travel thru the various formal gardens to make our way to the house. Frederick Olmsted designed the landscaping and the gardens are not to be missed

There are tantalizing glimpses of the home as you travel thru the gardens

Julie loved the gardens

This trellised area leads you to a huge conservatory (green house) full of plants and, of all things, a model railroad 

In addition to the model railroad there are scale models of all of the buildings on the estate

Most of the structure for the model railroad is vines and branches

The Conservatory includes a restaurant where you can dine amongst the plants

The gardens and Conservatory portion of the estate were our favorites

The gardeners cottage now serves as a location to order items used in the estate for your own home

We continued our walk to the home

Fountains and incredible plantings continue as you near the house

You arrive on a terrace overlooking the North Carolina countryside

The terrace also overlooks the formal garden and ponds

Along the way we found this interesting view of a statue enclosed in a metal container

Never did find out why

From here you make your way to the front of the house and the entrance to your tour

Their process to get you in the queue to enter is very well organized and flows quickly

This is the first room you see upon entry

You are provided audio guides that have numbers you punch in to hear the details of each room on your tour

The formal dining room seated many

The more intimate private dining room is where the family ate when not entertaining

Paintings of family members adorn the walls

Rooms open to the center atrium

You want to be sure to look up and admire the architecture of the ceilings

In WWII this room served as a storage area for artwork moved from Washington DC. It was intended to get it safe in case the city was bombed. 

A well stocked and well read library was a major feature of the home

Guests had a special second floor access from the bedrooms so they could gather some night time reading 

Historically significant tapestries highlight the walls

As you head upstairs you enjoy views of the home through leaded glass

The master bedroom

This is where the family spent their time - a very upscale family room

The wife's bedroom

Upstairs hallways look down into the formal dining room

This was a portion of the room available to guests for reading and socializing 

The formal portion of the house is painted in dark, majestic colors. The portion of the house dedicated to the servants who made all of this work are painted in pastels

A guest bedroom

A most interesting stairway connects the various levels of the house. The iron work is exquisite

The basement includes artwork from a party in which the guests painted the walls

The large indoor pool is no longer used due to leakage

Typical servants quarters

The kitchen where all the meals were prepared

Food was delivered to the dining rooms via dumbwaiters

Food for todays tour guests is provided by restaurants located around the grounds

We left via the pathways along the formal garden ponds

Once again enjoyed the walk to the parking areas

The "A" lots are the closest but involve a bit of an uphill walk

What surprised me was the drive out of the estate takes you past the home for one last view