Not bad, eh? The Biltmore Estate is truly something to behold. And while it costs a pretty penny to enter its gates and then even more to get the audio guided tour, it was something definitely worth doing once in life. Here I am welcoming you to the house. :)
I would love living in the house if I, too, could have a domestic staff of forty people to cook and clean and keep the run of the house for me. The Vanderbilts were good to their servants, though. They paid them well and gave them good accomodations in the house, and Mrs. Vanderbilt even made up baskets for her sick or pregnant staff and taught and organized lessons for them so they could learn additional skills. She was quite progressive in this way.
Unfortunately, they don't allow photos inside the house, so you will have to visit yourself either in person or online to see the sheer wonder of it all. The picture I pulled off the internet is of the banquet hall which had these incredibly ornate tapestries, relief sculptures, and pipes for an organ, but no organ was installed at the time the house was in use by the family. Now there's one, but not then. They would also serve seven course meals in the room each night promptly at 8 PM. There's lots of interesting little trivia about the house. Boy, am I glad I got the audio tour!
Just to give you some facts about said shack. It has over 250 rooms including 41 bathrooms with plumbing. The house was also built with electrical lighting in every room. It is filled with art peices and sculptures since George Vanderbilt (who built it) loved art. No one knows how much it cost to build because George funded it privately and never kept records or told anyone what he spent. The house opened Christmas Eve of 1895, and so Christmas is big at the Biltmore. If I were to ever go again, I would want to do it at Christmas time. The house itself covers more than four acres, has three floors and a basement. The whole estate is some astronomical number of acres I can't remember. Just to give you an idea, the backyard itself extended 19 miles from the back of the house to the foot of Mount Pisgah at the time it was built. Now it's not that big because Mrs. Vanderbilt sold tens of thousands of acres to the federal government to establish Pisgah National Forest.
This is a picture of the gardens which were also lovely. We only took the time to look at a small portion of them. Mrs. Vanderbilt loved roses, so they have a large rose garden and they have an azalea garden as well. We then took some time to go over to the winery. In 1985, Vanderbilt's great-grandson converted what had once been the dairy farm on the estate into a fully functioning winery. They have a wine tasting room as well, but I had grape juice instead. No worries; I am maintaining my standards while I'm out here. ;)
Then we finished off at the little farm and the old barn. It was nice but not much to see. Overall, it was a fabulous day—one of my favorite since being here. The crowds weren't too tremendous, the place is fascinating, and my friend Leigh makes great company. We finished off with dinner at a Mexican place. I had chile rellenos that I was hoping would be better than they were. I guess I'll have to wait to come home to get the better Mexican again. :) I suppose not all things could be perfect about this day, but I'll take it!
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