Biltmore House - September 2008

So as I stated in the previous post about our 5th wedding anniversary trip to Asheville, we forgot to take our camera with us when we went to the Biltmore House. However, it was raining and EXTREMELY cold - like cold enough you needed a heavy coat...so we didn't go out to the Gardens - which would have made for some pretty pictures - but again since we didn't go there and stand out in the cold rain, that wasn't a loss. Also, you could not take photos inside the house so there was no loss there either. Pretty much the only thing we could have taken that day was a picture of the front of the house - and maybe a picture of us in front of the house but we'll just have to do that the next time we go!

So I went on Google Images and found these photos to share with this blog.

There are no words to explain just how exquisite, beautiful, magnificent the architecture of this house is! The detail work is unbelieveable along with the fact that they had electricity and a phone service set up - at such an early year. They were so far ahead of the world!! I won't go on much about it truly because I just don't have the words for it.

Below is a close up of some of the detailing on the outside of the house. Inside this round shape is a round staircase that goes up 4 stories with a chandelier that hangs from the top story all the way down to the first story - hanging by one, single bolt in the ceiling!

And then I found a photo of the large dining hall of the house! I'm not sure which room was my favorite but this one was at the top for me...Not sure which was Stephen's favorite...but for you that know me and know how cold I always am, the three LARGE fireplaces at the end of the dining table won me over!!! Just for a little prospective, the columns in between the 3 fireplaces are way taller than me and wider... You could probably roast an elephant in each one (okay so maybe I'm exaggerating just a tiny bit)! Plus, I LOVE to cook, as well as I love the idea of getting dressed up in beautiful gowns and going to formal dinners!!! I would have loved to have been at one of their dinner parties! Can you imagine how long it took for those tapestries hanging on the walls to be made??? And they covered every wall in that room!

If you have never been - or if you went but didn't get the audio guide for the house tour - trust me - GET IT!!!!!!!!!!! If you are going to pay that much money for the ticket to see the estate, spend the additional $8 for the audio. There are so many hidden doors and other treats in the rooms that I would have NEVER notice even going through it mulitiple times. The book guide for each room doesn't highlight ALL the magnificent things in each room! Please get the guide!!! You can take your own pace even with the guide because you start the audio whenever you enter the room so if you want to linger longer than the audio to admire, you can...it doesn't rush you through and on the other hand, the audios aren't too long either! Stephen and I each had an audio set so we sort of made it a game to start our audios at the exact same time so that we would be hearing the same things at the same time and could point and comment and help each other find some of the things we were hearing about! GET THE AUDIO GUIDE!!!!

We finished the tour of the house in less than 5 hours (I think we got there a little after 10:00 and we got out either just before 2 or 3:00). Of course we were hungry by that time because all we had had time for that morning for breakfast was a piece of Stephen's birthday cake! NOTE: eat a good breakfast before going because you don't realize how much the walking through the house wears on you...the cake was not substantial! So we went to the Stable Cafe - which was as it sounds - a great big restaurant built inside what used to be the stables! Our food was actually very good but like any other historic place you may visit, the prices are definitly set for the tourists that the KNOW will eat there! But we didn't regret spending the money on the food at all! It was yummy!

After that we went through the gift shop and bought a Christmas ornament. Some people collect magnets, t-shirts or shot glasses - but I tend to collect ornaments! We tried to get a nicer, sort of dressier styled ornament as we have a more "pretty tree" than a "cutesy tree" at Christmas and of course the prettiest one was the most expensive one; but it was the one we wanted. After getting back to Nashville and looking at it more closely, we discovered that we had actually purchased some of the origianl Bilmore Estate limestone and brought home with us. The ornament we got is called the 2008 Limited Edition Ornament. The back of the box says: "This ornament is created with actual Indiana limestone discovered during excavations at Biltmore Estate as part the original "left over" limestone from the Biltmore House construction. The limestone, which is crushed to a fine powder, is combined with resin to achieve the stone-like quality of the [ornament]."

Here is a picture of what the ornament looks like! I love it even more now that I know the background on it's material base.

After we toured the house, ate a really late lunch and finished our shopping, we had to decide what to do next. We were both cold and a little damp from the rain so we quickly decided we didn't want to go out to the Gardens. There were a few more indoor buildings we could tour and the next on on the way was the Winery, which was one of the places we had intended to go anyway. Stephen participated in the free wine tasting class and we got to see a couple windows into where they make the Biltmore Wine. It smelled really good! We went through the Winery gift shop and tasted ALL the yummy dips and salsas and other food treats they had set up everywhere. They had a couple stations of cider and other hot tea type drinks - non-alcoholic - and they were very yummy! As we were leaving the Winery, they were doing cooking guides and other events outside but again is was cold and we were actually quite worn out by that time and decided we just wanted to go back to the condo.

There is an Inn on the Biltmore Estate (and a cottage) that we decided next time we go to Asheville we'll stay there, on the estate. As we drove from the house and past the Gardens and to the Winery and then through the rest of the estate on our way to the exit, we say lots of little walking/hiking type paths and decided that if we stayed on the estate we would have more time and more free range to walk the estate and explore a little more and wouldn't have to cram everything in on one day. So that's our goal. I can't find the pricing for the cottage on line - you probably have to call for that so I guess it's probably quite expensive but it is a 2 bedroom/2 bath cottage that originally served as the residence of Biltmore's market gardener. Afterward, it served as lodging for visiting VIPs. It even comes with a butler and cook! We thought we might see if another couple was interested we could go in together on it...otherwise, Stephen and I will just stay at the Biltmore Inn.

So if you are interested in joining us on another trip sometime next year or the following year, let us know so we can go ahead and get it booked!