Biltmore House – North
Carolina: Saturday, October 18 2008
The Biltmore estate is located just outside of Ashville, NC. George Washington Vanderbilt completed
construction on the Biltmore House in 1895, during the “Gilded Age.” Built of
massive limestone blocks and incorporating numerous architectural details, the
home represented the railroad wealth of the Vanderbilt family and the opulence
of the period.
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| BJ and CC in lobby of Biltmore Estate |
It is the largest private residence in the United States. So, just how big is America’s
largest private residence? Consider these numbers: • Four acres under one roof
• 175,000 square feet • 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, one indoor pool and a bowling
alley. We spent four hours on Saturday morning just touring the house. Then we
spent the afternoon driving around the 8000 acre estate to visit its working farm,
deer park, and its
winery, as well as extensive gardens and green houses.
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| Biltmore Estate Farm |
Everything about the place is impressive… so much so that
the estate has become the most visited historic tourist destination in the nation. It
receives more annual visitors than Colonial Williamsburg, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello,
and yes, even more than Elvis’s Graceland. The
most visited winery in the country is not in Napa valley – it is the Biltmore winery.
Perhaps the most impressive thing I learned was that GW Vanderbilt
bought 125,000 acres of land for his original estate. He owned as far as his
eye could see. Unfortunately, much of
that land had been already been clear cut. He hired experts to help him reforest it and
manage what remained.. You can see the
success of their efforts from this photo
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| View of the reforested land which was once all owned by GW Vanderbilt as part of the Biltmore estate |
Today, about 86,700 acres that were once part of the estate have
been incorporated into the adjoining Pisqah
National Forest. You
can learn more about the Biltmore Estate at the following website: http://www.willowwinds.com/biltmore-estate-guide.htm
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