Today we toured some of the Biltmore Estate. I say "some" of it as this place is 8000 acres and is broken up into sections. The picture above is the Biltmore Mansion. Adjacent to it is the Gardens area. We also visited the Antler Hill Village and Winery. We did not visit Deer Park.
Entering to compound you pass through an arched entry and then drive quite a ways to the actual entrance. We has bought tickets online so we were waved through and drove another 2-1/2 miles to the parking areas around the mansion. We had to drive a ways further to find parking for the big ol' brown truck, but we did and then walked about 10 minutes to get to the mansion. As we emerged out of the wooded area the picture above is our view of the mansion.
Ok, so 8000 acres, all these buildings, what is the deal with all of this? Well, that's what happens when you are George Washington Vanderbilt and you have the vision of building a country estate and a working farm. George started buying the land in 1888, started construction in 1889 and work continued until 1897. They actually moved into the house in 1895 and Christmas time was the first celebration there for friends and family. George got hitched in 1898 and they had a daughter in 1900. In 1930 the daughter opened Biltmore to the public to help support the mansion through the depression and promote tourism in the area. So about 125 years later it is still owned and operated by family. They welcome more than a million visitors each year
We started at the Mansion, which is 175,000 square feet and was known as America's Largest Home! We had timed entry tickets that started there. This place was very busy. It is incredible the number of people they process through here, and it sells out, so this is one of those places you have to be out ahead of it when scheduling your visit.
The walking tour through the mansion was well organized. There were large signs with numbers on them and a room title. You push the number on your audio device and it would narrate. Unfortunately some folks would simply stop in their tracks in front of a room to listen. I could not use mine and take pictures, so Doreen did the listening and gave me the highlights, and I photographed. Those that know me know I do not like crowds and this place was crowded. We made it through and enjoyed the beauty of the rooms. Some pictures:
There were several more rooms and then we got in line and waited to go up the stairs to the second floor, which was mostly bedrooms. You waited to go up, and then you got in line and waited to come down. That way they could regulate the number of people at a time.
We finished up on the second floor, waited in the line come back down stairs and then headed into the lower level. The good news was it was much cooler down there. The lower level was basically the servants areas - laundry, kitchens, pantries, servants quarters, etc. A few pictures:
