Part 3 - Vacation

To the right of the main entrance. Behind the windows is the hallway to the English Garden, indoors

Part of Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom

Part of the 3rd floor Living Hall - for guests

The brass/terra cotta pantry

The vase pantry. No, I am not making this up!

Other side to the vase pantry

Formal stairwell. The wrought iron is one piece that runs from floor to ceiling, all the way to the roof

Main entry is to the right

Wanted to catch the reflection of the mountains in the glass

First floor balcony

I could live out here

part of the Halloween Room walls in the basement

part of the formal kitchen, in the bassement

exterior shot

Doc, the cowboy who tends the horses, Carly, the other attendant, and me

They stop the carriage with the house in the background so we can take photos

The horses are Trace and Bo

This is the back of the Biltmore house

So there you have it. Light for taking photos was perfect the majority of the time. The camera loves cloudy skies.

If you are interested in visiting Biltmore Estate, we did everything online at their website. If you have never been, I recommend staying at the Village Hotel although it is pricey. But you have free shuttles around the estate, and that is important without your own vehicle.  For a more complete experience, we did stay at a hotel in Asheville in 2011, and I had my car. Asheville has excellent restaurants, lots to do, and is a pretty city. We did a lot of walking on that trip. It is an oasis in the south, being very independent and unlike any other southern city. Free thinking, artsy, and the people were nice to strangers. There are some fantastic nightly ghost tours in Asheville. Fun stuff.

If you do decide to stay at the estate, be prepared to spend $75 a day for 2 meals, over $100 for 3 meals. The food is excellent at all of the restaurants, but again, not cheap. Best ice cream is at the creamery, and I had a waffle cone with Cappacino Crunch. Worth every single calorie!

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Part 2 - Vacation

One of the reflective pools in the Italian Gardens

Sunset to the west (back) of the house

English Garden, inside the house to the right of the main entry

Looking up to the glass dome over the English Garden

View from the first floor balcony

First floor balcony. I know!

On a walk, no idea where we were. It was pitch black

3 installations in this area, but we were walking off the path on the grounds which were uneven.

At this point we are following the herd. It was crowded. It was very, very humid and hot

Back to the rowboat filled with glass balls

The front of the house from a distance

2 old broads trying to figure out how to take a selfie. My arm wasn't long enough

I just realized as I added these photos to the blog from Dropbox that my last day of pics are not in Dropbox. So this is going to spread into a 3 day post.

First, it was cooler in Chicago and Indianapolis the entire time we were gone. We were expecting the start of fall in the mountains. Yeah, no. Hot. Hot. Hot. And more hot with a huge dash of humidity.

The Biltmore Estate is not normally open after dark. There are some outdoor lights on the house itself, and a few on paths, but not a lot. The battery on my phone was fading fast, so I didn't use the flashlight app. We followed people who did have on their flashlight. Tricky walking on gravel, mulch, stone and wood paths at night. And there are stairs. So many stairs. But you do what needs to be done for a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was worth it.

I really need to get better at selfies. Or not. Not my first, but it was for Pat. The looks on our faces says it all. More, hopefully, tomorrow.
Linda

Vacation

Scarecrows on the patio outside the Village Hotel lobby

I have no idea what this flower is, but it fascinates me

One of two Chihuly exhibits in Antler Village

Bronze sculpture of Cornelia Vanderbilt and her dog, Cedric, outside Cedric's Tavern

Part of the old barn complex

I bought a UV protective hat. That sun was blazing hot

Biltmore House at twilight

Chihuly glass in the Italian Gardens

There are 3 reflective pools in the Italian Gardens

This was a great trip. If you have never been to the Biltmore Estate, I highly recommend it. Warning: there is a lot of walking. But the outdoor grounds are wheelchair accessible. The house is not. The entire estate is over 8,000 acres. I 40 runs through part of the property, according to our cab driver for the airport trips.

I am no longer physically able to walk for miles, or we would have. Wildlife is abundant, but we only saw deer and turkeys. Several people on our shuttles saw black bears. Oh, yeah.

As it was explained to us, each Chihuly exhibit is shipped wrapped in bubble wrap, and numbered. The installation is done by a cadre of art workers representing Mr. Chihuly. He is based in Seattle, WA. I was told that you can tour his working studio in that area. The glass is in individual pieces. For example, above in the purple each spike is one piece. An armature is constructed to attach the glass. This particular exhibit at Biltmore will end October 7th. All of the glass will be removed, again wrapped in bubble wrap, and returned to the artist. The estate will then gear up for Christmas decorating.

There was one exhibit inside the house in the English Garden, one outside the house to the right of the front entrance, and the remaining were scattered in the gardens. Two exhibits are in Antler Village, which is adjacent to the Village Hotel where we stayed.

Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt had only one child, Cornelia. Cornelia married and had two sons. The oldest, Cecil, inherited the property after his mother's death, and ran the corporation. He lived to be 93. His two children, a son and a daughter, now own the Biltmore Estate. They live on the estate, but not in the house. The house has been declared a national landmark and is being preserved with the furnishings intact. We were told that both live with their families in renovated farm houses, and are down to earth, environmentally conscious people. They will ride horses on the grounds. All of the restaurants are farm to table, even before that became a trend. A portion of the acreage is a working farm, raising cattle, pigs, and lambs. Vegetables are grown, there are chickens, and 50% of the eggs consumed are from that farm. So when you eat a breakfast at the Village Social restaurant, you are eating bacon, eggs, potatoes, and possibly jelly on your biscuit that has all been processed right there.

The Vanderbilt family is not as rich as their founder by any means. But the house and grounds have never fallen to ruin, and they are turning a profit and providing employment for hundreds of people. The estate was not always profitable.

More to come tomorrow.
Linda