12th Installment - Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC, June 29 Wednesday

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

June 29 Wednesday

From Maggie Valley, we drove east about 60 miles to Asheville, NC via US19 and I40 and cut 70 or so miles out of the

Blue Ridge Parkway

.  While I had heard a bit about the Biltmore Estate it wasn’t on our thoughts of places to visit, but I’m glad we took the time.  Biltmore was opened to visitors for the first time on Christmas Eve in 1895.  It had been built over the prior 6 years by George Washington Vanderbilt III who was 33 and a bachelor at the time.  Big and beautiful are not sufficient, but they are accurate. 

Vanderbilt brought all he could buy in Europe to decorate his new estate just like Hearst did later to build the Hearst Castle in California.  The resulting 250-room Biltmore mansion has 135,000 or maybe 175,000 square feet of space depending on which source you believe - 4 acres under the roof.  Either way it has plenty of room for 33 family and guest bedrooms, 43 bathrooms (indoor you know, which was a new thing in the 1890s), 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, and an indoor swimming pool.  Unfortunately you’re not permitted to take photos inside, so you’ll just have to google Biltmore if you want to see the interior.  We did rent the audio tour at the Biltmore which is something we had never done at any other museum or site.  It added to my enjoyment and understanding and would recommend it if you visit.  We spent about 3 hours inside the house.  Reyna made it through 3 floors, and then I continued on to the basement with kitchens and the bachelor wing while she rested.   

As our souvenir book “A Pictorial Guide to the Biltmore” points out, the “surrounding grounds are equally impressive, encompassing 125,000 acres of forests, farms and a dairy, a 250-acre wooded park, five pleasure gardens, and 30 miles of macadamized roadways.”  The grounds were designed (much of the native forest had been logged and farmed – Vanderbilt acquired many properties) by Frederick Law Olmstead architect of New York’s Grand Central Park.  It also has a winery with free tasting, which we enjoyed after our tour.

Entrance to Biltmore

The Approach Road to Biltmore – some of that “macadamized roadway”



still not to the Biltmore – the

Approach Road

is 3 miles I read





Biltmore – the shuttle buses lined up in front bring visitors from the parking area



Could be a cathedral?

In the Italian Garden

Water lilies in pond in the Italian Garden

View in Japanese Garden

View of the grounds designed by Olmstead – hard to believe this is man-built.

When these swans heard my car door open, they headed straight toward me.  I’m pretty sure they expected a handout, but they were disappointed.

Back side of Biltmore

Having spent the day at Biltmore, we found a motel for the night (Howard Johnsons) and went out to dinner where we enjoyed an outstanding Thai meal at Thai Orchid at 11 Broadway in Asheville, 28801.  Phone 828 281 8151.  Hope you enjoy this place.  Their PadThai was really outstanding.  Ask the owner if he might share some of his homemade chili sauce with you.