Part 5: Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC 201210714

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We visited our friends Bob and Kitty at their farm near Knoxville, TN. In addition to catching up on local events, we also addressed some truck maintenance issues like rotating the tires. When we finished our chores, we continued east to Asheville, NC to see the Biltmore Estate.

The Photos

The Biltmore Estate was built by the Vanderbilts as a "summer home". The family, at one time, was one of the richest in America. They made their fortunes in the steamship and railroad industry and at one time owned the NY Central Railroad. I am not going to attempt to re-tell the family's complex history in this page, but instead would direct the reader to Wikipedia or any other credible history reference. Above is the entry view of the mansion. Admission is pricey and at $76/head, it is only for those that are motivated.

It is hard to find words to describe the "excessive excesses" in the construction of the mansion, but suffice it to say that the facility was indented to impress guests. Originally, the family purchased something on the order of 175,000 acres of North Carolina for their summer retreat. In the end, failure to control costs and other fiscal factors required sale of the majority of the land reducing the final holding to something on the order of 6,000 acres, just a fraction of the initial holding. The photo above is the view from the main house toward the distant gazebo.

Tourists provide a sense of scale for the entry to the house. Billed as the "largest house in America" (registered trademark) it surely seems true.

We arrived early and had to wait until our reserved time to enter the main house so we walked around the grounds. From the rear terrace, we had a sweeping view of the area called "Deer Park".

We had about an hour to burn until our tour time, so we went to check out the gardens and conservatory. The flowers were brilliant and the grounds nicely tended.

The conservatory was a "small" outbuilding well away from the main house and was basically a large greenhouse.

There were some awesome orchid collections in the conservatory. All the flowers were nicely tended.

Daddy made his money on the New York Central Railroad, so the conservatory had a number of model locomotives. Unlike the others, this one was a model of a diesel locomotive.

Finally our tour time arrived so we returned to the main house and went in. This is the entry foyer. Look carefully and you can see that each of the high windows had a hand-operated actuation shaft with universal joints -- these are the dark lines that follow each of the radial beams.

The tour path took us to the pool and billiards area next. The audio guide stated that the pool table was made of native oak and weighed over a ton.

The scale of things was very impressive. This room reminded me of the Great Hall in Windsor Castle in the UK.

Hidden in the second story of the Great Hall was a huge pipe organ. Note the inlaid carvings.

Intricate carvings in the shelves and crown molding.

Tapestries and carved wood panels covered the walls.

A three-bay fireplace with detailed carvings above.

A secondary dining area for everyday use.

A seating area adjacent to the entry atrium. Note the parquet flooring.

The audio guide described this room as one of the last finished in the mansion. During WWII it was used as storage for art from the National Gallery. With armed guards, of course.