The Biltmore Estate

You've heard of McMansions, but this mansion, the Biltmore, is really over the top!  It certainly lives up to its name!  Built More!

On our way home from Charlotte, Tim and I took a slight detour to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate.  No photography was allowed inside the mansion which is modeled after the chateaus of France, but that's OK!  No photos of mine could do it justice anyway.  But if you'd like to see someone else's photographs of the Biltmore's interior, click on this link or try this one.

Two hundred and fifty rooms and 120,000 acres are a lot of space for one family to enjoy.  But that, in a nutshell, describes the house built by George W. Vanderbilt II, grandson of railroad and steamboat tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, between 1888 and 1895.  

The home includes an indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a bowling alley.  It also is an incredible treasure trove of Flemish tapestries, lithograph etchings, furnishings and antiques.  And the grounds give the viewer gorgeous vistas in all directions!

The 120,000 acre Biltmore Estate was the last landscape done by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Olmsted designed New York City's Central Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.  His plans for those public spaces were limited by the public's budget.  Here at the Biltmore, Olmsted could finally tap the resources of a multi-millionaire.

George W. Vanderbilt II

George Vanderbilt had the money to carry out all of Olmsted's plans for the estate.

Olmsted sought to "respect the genius of the place."  He believed that every site has ecologically and spiritually unique qualities that could be highlighted with the right design.

Now, after more than a century, visitors to the estate can see the full realization of Olmsted's design.

And the sight is absolutely stunning!