Asheville and the Biltmore

The Biltmore Estate

Somewhat reluctantly we left Transylvania County and headed back up Hwy 276 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. But we were not unhappy to be back on the Parkway!  We were just 40 miles from Asheville but we spent the better part of the day getting there, stopping to hike a few of the shorter trails on the Parkway.  Since we were in need of groceries and clean clothes we decided to stay a night in Asheville.  I was happy about this as so many people had urged me to visit the Biltmore.  Now I would have time to go. 

Italian Gardens and reflecting pools

The Vanderbilt family had a tradition of building extravagant homes and in 1895 George Vanderbilt outdid his whole family when he completed his country estate near Asheville that was the equal of any of the great manors of Europe.  To me, the house was every bit a castle with over four acres of floor space!  How many square feet is that?  Unfortunately, they don’t allow you to make photos inside the house as there are so many people touring that it would slow things down if everyone was snapping away. 

 

Visitors resting on the patio

But for those of you who have never been, let’s just say ‘extravagant’ doesn’t really cover it.  The art work is amazing – life size John Singer Sargent portraits of friends and family, Renoir's, amazing Flemish tapestries, priceless collections of furniture, china, linens and hand-made fabrics and matching wallpapers.  Some of the wainscoting and trim were made of marble and there were stenciled ceiling beams and painted limestone fireplace hoods.  And the books – I never saw so many with some dating to the 1500s.

The rose garden

 

The Conservatory

 

The grounds are equally impressive with farms, a dairy, five different gardens and a 250-acre woodland park.  Italian gardens with reflecting pools, formal gardens and a conservatory were just some of the features of the gardens. The roses were in magnificent bloom and the azaleas and rhododendrons as well.

David did the laundry and washed the car and the RV as he wasn’t all that interested in visiting the mansion (that trade-off worked for me).  He had really enjoyed our visits to the Cradle of Forestry to see how modern forestry developed from George Vanderbilt’s school.  Of the 125,000 acres of land in the Ashville area that Vanderbilt acquired, 100,000 acres of it eventually became the Pisgah National Forest.  David was more impressed with that legacy and me too, but I have to admit the guy built a really nice house!  A day isn’t enough to see it all, but I did my best and had a grand time. 

 

Up on the Blue Ridge Parkway