It took 6 years to build the unbelievable creation that is the Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville, NC called the Biltmore. Finished in 1895, it has 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 175,000 square feet (4 acres). We couldn't leave the Smoky Mountain area without visiting the Biltmore estate. At the time it was built, the property, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, covered 125,000 acres. Over the years, a large parcel (85,000 acres) was sold to the US government, other parcels sold, and the property now comprises 8,000 acres that is administered by the remaining Vanderbilt family. Vanderbilt's only child, Cornelia continued to live at the home til 1956 when the home was turned into a museum open to the public. It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place. During the tour we saw the 70,000-gallon indoor swimming pool, 2 bowling alleys, early 20th century exercise equipment
, a two-story library, and other rooms filled with artworks, furniture and 19th-century
novelties such as elevators, forced-air heating, centrally-controlled
clocks, fire alarms and an intercom system. It's amazing: we saw maybe 42 areas of the house, and it took about 4 hours! There are 250 rooms! The grounds include 75 acres of gardens, a winery and an AAA 5 diamond hotel (doesn't it figure...).
They don't permit photography in the house, so I got a few pix of the outside. It was so hot, that after the tour, the thought of touring the gardens in 93 degree heat with 86% humidity with no shade, did not especially appeal to us. So we skipped the gardens and went over to the air-conditioned winery, where we were treated to a tour of the winery and a wine tasting. The lady giving the tour was especially entertaining and informative. The winery replaced a very successful dairy on the property in 1985. It is now the most visited winery in the United States.
We'd like to do a bike tour some other time in the fall. Tomorrow, we head up the Blue Ridge Parkway towards Shenandoah NP.
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