Build More - March 30, 2015

There were so many highlights of my trip to Asheville, it’s hard to single out one, but the Biltmore Estate is the attraction for which Asheville is best known. I spent most of a day taking it all in, and it is indeed impressive.

There is no long drive out into the country to visit the Biltmore Estate, it sits right on the southern edge of Asheville. There is a long-ish drive in to get to the mansion once you’re on the estate. It was purposely plotted that way to build the suspense and not reveal the mansion until you’re close enough to be duly impressed. These days, you actually stop short of the mansion to park and are carried the rest of the way by a shuttle bus, but finally, there it is:

The largest private residence in the U.S.

Some architectural details as I got closer:

The photo above is the exterior of the grand spiral staircase.

One of two lions that guard the mansion’s entrance:

Turning back from the mansion, this is the view out across the front lawn:

On the hill above the wall is a temple to Diana:

The wall itself has some interesting details:

The turtles used to spout water from their mouths, providing a place for horses to drink when they returned from a ride.

Alas, though tour tickets are not cheap, photography is not permitted inside the mansion. So, what I have to show you are pictures of the extensive grounds. I will say this about the interior, though: I liked it. Though the scale and number of rooms is somewhat outlandish, the furnishings and decorations struck me as being generally very tasteful. It is a house you can tell was meant to be lived in. The decor of some of the guest bedrooms is over-the-top, but in the entertaining, whimsical fashion of a themed hotel. Fun to spend a few nights, but not something you’d want to live with.

The self-guided tour included with the general admission ticket follows a prescribed route through the mansion, with each of the important rooms having either a local expert guide or explanatory signage. I spent a few extra dollars for an electronic audio guide and was glad I did. The crowds inside the mansion were significant, and you have to move at the pace with which they flow from room to room. That meant the tour took about two hours to complete. My back was still bothering me, and two hours was by far the longest period I had gone without sitting since the problem began; there are no convenient benches or chairs once you’re on the tour. I did find some relief by occasionally leaning against a stair railing or doorway, and I had taken a substantial dose of painkiller before starting the tour, but it was still an excruciating experience, which I was none-the-less determined to get through.

To give you some idea of the extent of the tour, here is the floorplan of the first floor of the mansion:

(Click for larger version)

The tour winds through three ( three and a half?) additional stories; upper stories which are essentially warrens of bedrooms and servants’ quarters, and the basement that includes larders, a gym, a bowling alley, and an indoor swimming pool.

 The tour ends just a few yards from the food court, which used to be the stables for the mansion. They have everything from walk-up food stands to luxury restaurants. I treated myself to one of the more upscale options, the Stable Cafe, to give my back a chance to rest. I had a wonderful, relaxed meal, and afterward felt ready to take on touring the grounds.

My first stop was the south (or left as you approach) end of the mansion:

A stairway leads from there down into the Italian Gardens:

All of the gardens, and the entire grounds, for that matter, were designed by Fredrick Law Ohmstead, who is most famous for designing New York’s Central Park. Moving further south, you pass through the shrubbery garden:

From some vantage points, you can get glimpses of the flower garden and Conservatory that lie ahead:

Even though I was quite early in the season, the flower garden was showing plenty of color:

At the far end of the flower garden, you come to the Conservatory, which is an elaborate greenhouse:

The specialty of the Conservatory seems to be orchids:

but there are plenty of other kinds of plants, too:

Emerging from the Conservatory, there is still a view back to the mansion:

I then spent some time wandering trails east of the more formal gardens:

As you wander about, you get occasional tantalizing glimpses of the mansion:

Arriving back at the mansion, I caught a shuttle bus back to my van. Following the signs to exit, I was surprised that the route leads right past the front of the mansion. The attendants were even fine with me stopping to take a photo:

It’s easy then to think that the tour is over, but no, there is plenty more to see. The route goes past the flower garden (you may have noticed cars in an earlier photo), and then out into the expanse of the estate. Your eventual destination is Antler Hill Village, which used to be the center for farming on the estate, but now is a touristy kind of themed shopping mall. The drive there, averaging 25 mph, takes 20 to 30 minutes, all of it on the estate. Along the way there are plenty of scenic diversions:

I chose to take a brief detour through an area called Deer Park, which has a restaurant, a conference center, and an equestrian center:

Even if you’re not interested in shopping, it’s worth stopping at Antler Hill Village to take a look around:

The big building in the background is an inn where you can stay right on the estate. The village also has a pub, an ice cream shop, free wine tasting from the Biltmore Vineyards (with opportunity to purchase, of course), a petting zoo, and a display of farm implements:

When done at the village you drive back to the same portal through which you entered the estate. Though it seems like you’ve come a long way, you’ve really only scratched the surface of the entire grounds, which extend for dozens of miles to the west.

I had a great time touring the Biltmore Estate and next time I’m in Asheville, I intend to take a different, upstairs/downstairs behind-the-scenes, tour. For now, though, I was anxious to get on with my drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is the topic of my next post.