Karen’s mid-December birthday usually arrives with a request to visit an attraction with dazzling, holiday lights. For 2017 the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina fit the bill. It took George W. Vanderbilt six years to build the mansion and he opened the house on Christmas Eve, 1895. The 8,000 acre estate has added a hotel, restaurant, shopping venues, winery, massive parking lots, and administrative structures since that first Christmas, but the charm and elegance untold wealth can create is spotlighted during the holiday festivities.
Temperatures were in the teens when we bussed in from the remote parking lots to tour the Biltmore House.
Gargoyles watch over the parade of tourists arriving for their reserved tours.
Our audio guide allowed us to stroll at our own pace. The Winter Garden welcomed us with warmth and color from the brutal cold outside.
The Banquet Hall’s ceiling was seven-stories high. The oak table seated 38 people for 7- to 10-course meals with a triple fireplace on one end and 1916 Skinner pipe organ on the other. Every room had one or more Christmas Trees.
George left the Music Room unfinished and the the current owners, the Cecil Family, completed the room in 1976.
I was most fascinated by the Library. Original Italian artworks from the 1700s complimented original masterpieces created on the ceiling.
The Library contained around 11,000 books. I asked a docent how their bindings and covers could all look so much alike? He replied, “Mr. Vanderbilt sent all his books to be reprinted and bound in leather before placing them here.”
The bed in Georges’s bedroom looked small, due to the vastness of the chamber. His wife had a separate bedroom to accommodate the three or more wardrobe changes she might have to make during the days’ meals and activities. Men weren’t allowed in ladies’ dressing rooms, even husbands.
The Billiard Room was located in the Bachelor’s Wing. There was also a Smoking Room, Gun Room, Gymnasium, Bowling Alley and Swimming Pool to keep folks amused.
The 70,000-gallon pool was only filled when needed. There were no pool chemicals to keep it clean and fresh, so it was emptied after every use.
To create a 178,926 square foot house in the undeveloped mountains George had to build his own woodworking factory, brick kiln and three-mile railroad spur. Over 1,000 workers and 60 stonemasons toiled on the main house. We were worn out after touring just 50 of the 155 rooms. George W. Vanderbilt called this place his, “little mountain escape.”
We returned to the estate a second day to check out Antler Village. It was way too cold to wander around the Farm, Village Green and many shops.
Established in 1985, the winery offered more than 20 wines and the tasting room was warm and cozy inside. Our server was impressed that Karen brought her own assortment of chocolates and shared them with her and other guests.
This three-story, wrought-iron chandelier was a perfect example of the ostentatiousness the Biltmore Estate represents. It’s an unbelievable place that has to be seen to grasp the Vanderbilts’ fabulous wealth.