Biltmore Estate (part 1)

On Thursday, we hit the road again--this time headed for Asheville (about a 2-hour drive) to the Biltmore Estate. With his Mountain Dew again in hand, Mark acted as our chauffeur. Gina provided the entertainment as she read excerpts from a travelogue by Bill Bryson.

After parking the car, we headed down the pathway through the dauntingly tall trees...

some of them over a hundred years old...

stopping along the way to inspect some limbs...

to finally encounter this view of the Biltmore House, the largest home in America!

This was the view from above, of the sculpted gardens and terrace on the south side of the house.

Landscape artist and horticulturist Frederick Olmsted envisioned not only beautiful pleasure gardens, and a major arboretum and nursery, but also a managed forestry project. By re-foresting over 300 acres of eroded and worn-out farmland, Olmsted was able to create and develop a lanscape of beauty that continues to exist--even to this day--as an example of good land management.

Begun in 1889, this 4-story building was patterned after three chateaux in early 16th-century France. The "castle-house" covers more than 4-acres of floor space and hosts more than 250 rooms.

This was the view from the hill opposite the house, where a statue of Diana is now located.

This Statue of Diana (and the building behind it) is an area that is often rented out for weddings and other special events...

or just used as a place for frivolous entertainment by the visitors!

Even the restrooms (building on the left) were impressive!

We were overwhelmed by the massive size of this building. It was constructed over a period of more than six years. In order to aid in the construction project, George Vanderbilt also established his own brick factory, wood-working shop, and a 3-mile railway for transporting goods to the site, (all this in the late 1880's!) besides sustaining an operating farm of crops and animals.

Intricate details of marble and stone, statues and balconies...

and wrought-iron motifs...

and glass lanterns...

...and columns and arches. Such an impressive work of art that the architect Richard Morris Hunt created together with  George Vanderbilt!

On the southern side of the mansion, this huge patio gave us our first spectacular view of the valley below...

...and the Pisgah National Forest and mountain range in the background.

Saving the tour of the house for later, we started to walk down this shaded walkway to the Arboretum and gardens below...

...the trees providing us a plethora of color along the way.

Little did we know, what beauty awaited us beyond those steps! (next post!)