Since we had explored the longest cave in the world, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to peek through the largest house in America. Built by George Vanderbilt, the 250-room Biltmore Mansion in Asheville North Carolina is a sight to behold.
I had been through it once before in 1992 with a girlfriend from high school. We motored through on our way to Charleston. It was amazing what 16 years will do to a place. My girlfriend and I went through on a guided tour with about 10 other people, heard stories about the Vanderbilt family, got to try out doorknobs and chairs and had no barrier access to the grounds and balconies outside the home. We only got to see the first, second and basement stories of the home and were too young to partake of the wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery. All of this experience was included in the price of admission.
In 2008, you walk in and for $8 you can get an MP3 player with a self-guided tour of the home. You follow the rest of humanity through the house looking at a map on a brochure that has numbers on each room that correspond to numbers that you type into your MP3. Then you would listen to a brief 2-3 minute commentary of the room that you were in trying not to unnecessarily crowd the people around or in front of you. For another $15 you can get special tours by reservation to see additional areas of the house with fewer people. And, if you want what my girlfriend and I got the last time we were there, you have to pay $150 per adult/$75 per child. And all of this is ON TOP of the regular admission to the grounds at the gate.
Despite the fleecing, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we walked through this home built by a person whose wealth we can’t even imagine. We all had our favorite parts. Our youngest was the tour Nazi, announcing which buttons to push on the MP3 player when we entered each room. He turned several heads and probably got some people to listen with us as authoritative and thorough as he was reading and following the map.
At one point, we were in the South Tower Room on the third floor – one of the many guest rooms in the house. Because he had his earphones on, my youngest did not realize that he was speaking rather loudly. He looked around at the room decorated in a subdued, neoclassical style of yellows, blues and pinks and announced, “This room looks like you are sleeping in a birthday cake!”
My favorite part was, of course, the house – but particularly the library. George was an avid reader and according to the auto tour was considered the most well-read man in America at the time. The have calculated that he read two books per week over his entire life-time. The library contains more than 10,000 books of his 23,000 book collection. The library was two stories high and stacked floor to ceiling with books, books and more books. I also love the grand staircase made of limestone that has no visible supports. In the middle of the staircase is a 1,700 pound chandelier held into place by a single bolt.
My husband was very impressed with the 72’ x 42’ x 70’ Banquet Hall. One end of the room is almost entirely covered with three side-by-side, walk-in fireplaces. The other end holds an organ loft and the center of the room contains an oak dining table that can extend to 40 feet. There are flags, banners, crests, hunting trophies, tapestries and huge, electric chandeliers. Cool room – and also the one that is featured on TV the most.
Our oldest enjoyed the gardens. He loved walking among the various gardens and took several photos of flowers, bees and greenery throughout the estate’s Italian Garden, Shrubbery Garden, Walled Garden and Conservatory. All the garden’s and the rest of the acreage surrounding the house were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – the very same man who coined the term “landscape architecture” and who designed Central Park in New York City.
The entire family enjoyed the one “special” tour that we decided to take – the Rooftop Tour. The group on the 9:30 a.m. tour consisted of the four of us and a retired couple from Florida. On the tour we were able to go into some rooms that were not open to the general public on the tour and also were able to walk out on the rooftop balcony and several other balconies at the front and back of the house. We all patted the butt of a gargoyle on the front of the house for luck and looked at the view from outside of George’s bathroom. Tracy Ross, our tour guide, explained as we were looking out the back balcony that at one time, George owned every single piece of land that you could view from the balcony – including Mount Pisgah over 19 miles in the distance.
We also saw the attic and how the slate shingles were attached to the steel roof beams by what looked like copper bailing wire. We got a birds-eye view of the grand staircase and the front porch as well as some really great views out some fourth floor maid’s quarters windows. We went up and down some really weird, narrow staircases and in and out windows up around the rooftops. It was a really cool tour. If you are ever at Biltmore and you can only do one tour – this one is a terrific pick.
Tracy was a fantastic tour guide and instantly won over our youngest by making him the official “rope holder” when we would go through the barrier ropes to places not on the public tour – must be the freckles. We saw her later when we were touring on the audio tour and she caught the boys’ eyes and waved at them. She thanked us for visiting Biltmore so that she could keep the job that she thoroughly enjoyed. We were OK with that – she was good at her job.
After touring the house and gardens, we made our stop in the gift shop for our family Christmas ornament. We decided on a two-inch replica of the Vanderbilt china plate with the George’s initials in the center. Then it was on for a very short tour through the Winery, some wine tasting and home.
On the way back to the cabin we stopped at TGI Friday’s in Asheville for dinner and the Bryson City IGA for supplies and then called it an evening. Tomorrow, we have decided to sleep in!
George’s great-grandchildren are keeping the home and grounds alive and I’d say they are doing a fantastic job.
I had been through it once before in 1992 with a girlfriend from high school. We motored through on our way to Charleston. It was amazing what 16 years will do to a place. My girlfriend and I went through on a guided tour with about 10 other people, heard stories about the Vanderbilt family, got to try out doorknobs and chairs and had no barrier access to the grounds and balconies outside the home. We only got to see the first, second and basement stories of the home and were too young to partake of the wine tasting at the Biltmore Winery. All of this experience was included in the price of admission.
In 2008, you walk in and for $8 you can get an MP3 player with a self-guided tour of the home. You follow the rest of humanity through the house looking at a map on a brochure that has numbers on each room that correspond to numbers that you type into your MP3. Then you would listen to a brief 2-3 minute commentary of the room that you were in trying not to unnecessarily crowd the people around or in front of you. For another $15 you can get special tours by reservation to see additional areas of the house with fewer people. And, if you want what my girlfriend and I got the last time we were there, you have to pay $150 per adult/$75 per child. And all of this is ON TOP of the regular admission to the grounds at the gate.
Despite the fleecing, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we walked through this home built by a person whose wealth we can’t even imagine. We all had our favorite parts. Our youngest was the tour Nazi, announcing which buttons to push on the MP3 player when we entered each room. He turned several heads and probably got some people to listen with us as authoritative and thorough as he was reading and following the map.
At one point, we were in the South Tower Room on the third floor – one of the many guest rooms in the house. Because he had his earphones on, my youngest did not realize that he was speaking rather loudly. He looked around at the room decorated in a subdued, neoclassical style of yellows, blues and pinks and announced, “This room looks like you are sleeping in a birthday cake!”
My favorite part was, of course, the house – but particularly the library. George was an avid reader and according to the auto tour was considered the most well-read man in America at the time. The have calculated that he read two books per week over his entire life-time. The library contains more than 10,000 books of his 23,000 book collection. The library was two stories high and stacked floor to ceiling with books, books and more books. I also love the grand staircase made of limestone that has no visible supports. In the middle of the staircase is a 1,700 pound chandelier held into place by a single bolt.
My husband was very impressed with the 72’ x 42’ x 70’ Banquet Hall. One end of the room is almost entirely covered with three side-by-side, walk-in fireplaces. The other end holds an organ loft and the center of the room contains an oak dining table that can extend to 40 feet. There are flags, banners, crests, hunting trophies, tapestries and huge, electric chandeliers. Cool room – and also the one that is featured on TV the most.
Our oldest enjoyed the gardens. He loved walking among the various gardens and took several photos of flowers, bees and greenery throughout the estate’s Italian Garden, Shrubbery Garden, Walled Garden and Conservatory. All the garden’s and the rest of the acreage surrounding the house were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – the very same man who coined the term “landscape architecture” and who designed Central Park in New York City.
The entire family enjoyed the one “special” tour that we decided to take – the Rooftop Tour. The group on the 9:30 a.m. tour consisted of the four of us and a retired couple from Florida. On the tour we were able to go into some rooms that were not open to the general public on the tour and also were able to walk out on the rooftop balcony and several other balconies at the front and back of the house. We all patted the butt of a gargoyle on the front of the house for luck and looked at the view from outside of George’s bathroom. Tracy Ross, our tour guide, explained as we were looking out the back balcony that at one time, George owned every single piece of land that you could view from the balcony – including Mount Pisgah over 19 miles in the distance.
We also saw the attic and how the slate shingles were attached to the steel roof beams by what looked like copper bailing wire. We got a birds-eye view of the grand staircase and the front porch as well as some really great views out some fourth floor maid’s quarters windows. We went up and down some really weird, narrow staircases and in and out windows up around the rooftops. It was a really cool tour. If you are ever at Biltmore and you can only do one tour – this one is a terrific pick.
Tracy was a fantastic tour guide and instantly won over our youngest by making him the official “rope holder” when we would go through the barrier ropes to places not on the public tour – must be the freckles. We saw her later when we were touring on the audio tour and she caught the boys’ eyes and waved at them. She thanked us for visiting Biltmore so that she could keep the job that she thoroughly enjoyed. We were OK with that – she was good at her job.
After touring the house and gardens, we made our stop in the gift shop for our family Christmas ornament. We decided on a two-inch replica of the Vanderbilt china plate with the George’s initials in the center. Then it was on for a very short tour through the Winery, some wine tasting and home.
On the way back to the cabin we stopped at TGI Friday’s in Asheville for dinner and the Bryson City IGA for supplies and then called it an evening. Tomorrow, we have decided to sleep in!
George’s great-grandchildren are keeping the home and grounds alive and I’d say they are doing a fantastic job.
