With 178,000 sq. ft. of living space, 250 rooms, and 8,000 acres of property, you’d hardly consider the Biltmore Estate to be a “little mountain escape,” but that’s exactly what George Washington Vanderbilt II called his summer house in Asheville, North Carolina. I can’t begin to imagine what his winter house must have looked like.
The Biltmore Estate is the largest privately owned home in America. Built between 1889 and 1895, it was once the home of George Washington Vanderbilt II and his wife Edith Stuyvesant Dresser. Though much of the Vanderbilt’s wealth came from railroads and other business ventures, George Vanderbilt dabbled in dairy farming at the estate. His heirs later sold the dairy barns and built a winery, which is still in operation today. One of George’s grandsons, William Cecil, later inherited the estate and opened it to the public, though it is still privately owned.
You can tell immediately that a tour of the house will be daunting. To begin with, visitors must drive 3 miles from the entrance gate to the parking area where they can catch a shuttle to the house. It’s another 2 miles to the winery from there. But start with the house.
I highly recommend the audio guides to accompany your self-guided tour. We chose the children’s audio guide for my daughter. I listened to it through some of the rooms in the house and found it perfectly entertaining for kids who may not be as taken with the museum-like atmosphere of the opulent rooms as their parents are. The children’s audio guide is narrated by Cedric, the dog. He points out features in each room that appeal to children, like the fact that 27 stockings are hung from the fireplace at Christmas. He also points out pictures of dogs hanging on the walls in the Billiard Room – which, oddly, turned out to be my favorite room of the house.
Scanned from a postcard. You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the Biltmore Estate.
The library was fantastic. Filled with 10,000 books, I know this is where I would have spent the majority of my time if I’d lived there. George and Edith’s bedrooms were magnificent, too. As were the various sitting rooms, guest rooms, dining rooms, breakfast rooms, music rooms, indoor pool, bowling alley, etc., etc., etc. Seriously, how many rooms could one family really need?
The house was gorgeous, as were the grounds. There are gardens and paths and scenic picnic areas that guests are allowed to wander. There are also stables and lakes and a small lagoon. You could easily spend days wandering all that the Biltmores owned.
English gardens at the Biltmore
They wisely steer visitors past the Antler Hill Winery as you exit the estate. A free wine tasting is included with your ticket price and we happily partook. First we took a guided tour of the winery operation. It was quite interesting. Biltmore Estate wine is produced there, but the grapes are brought in from California, making it a California wine. We saw the vats and the processing involved in making reds, whites, and roses before we went to the tasting room and were greeted by a bartender who patiently let us try as many different flavors of Biltmore Wines as we liked. (Which ended up being all the wines on the menu since I like white and my husband likes red.)
Biltmore Wines
There was live music playing in the village square. Many people bought several bottles of wine and sat at one of the tables enjoying the music and ambiance around them. Others headed to one of the restaurants on site. We drove through the grounds, admiring the mountains in the background and listing all the bits of opulence that astounded us. I still cannot fathom what it must have been like to live there in its Gilded Age heyday. But the Behind-the-Scenes Butler Tour gave me a glimpse of what it might have been like if I’d worked there instead. It was a little easier for me to relate to that. I’ll tell you more about that next.
Where have you experienced opulence?
*I’d like to thank the Biltmore Estate for hosting my family’s tour of the house and providing complimentary audio guides. All opinions and wistfulness are completely my own.
Browsing The Atlas 
That is one heck of a little summer getaway ! I’m eager to hear about the Butler Tour. That sounds quite cool. I like the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Apparently they only lived here about 6 months a year. Can you imagine?
When we visited it was extremely crowded — the jostling and pushing were madness. One guy had the audio tour on so loudly next to us that we couldn’t hear our own. We didn’t even get halfway through the tour when we gave up and headed for the winery. (This wasn’t even on a weekend. I can’t imagine what summer would be like.)
Sounds like we got lucky. It got a little congested in the bedroom area because the pathways were confined, but otherwise, it wasn’t bad at all. Maybe Spring is the time to go.
The house and the grounds look absolutely stunning. Also, a shuttle to the house?? Epitome of opulence in my book. Last time I felt overwhelmed by so many rooms was when I took a tour of Windsor Castle. Obviously on a bit of a different scale than a house but I definitely felt the same sense of, are all these rooms necessary? It seems like families such as the Biltmores weren’t too far from living like royalty themselves. 😉
Yes, I’d imagine that the tours are similar. Extravagance can’t really be measured, can it?
Interesting tour, thank you Juliann. I’m not a fan of wealth flaunted but I look upon land and property owners kindlier when they allow us peasants access 🙂
Rumor has it that the current Biltmores got into financial straits and opened the house for tours. I’m not sure whether this is true, but since they no longer live there…
What an awesome tour, and an excellent post! I just had to tweet this! ♥♥♥ ;^)
Thanks! It was unforgettable. I still think back to wandering through those rooms. They were gorgeous. I wish I could have taken pictures.
Biltmore is one place I’d really like to visit in the states, the photos are probably not doing it justice, as wonderful as they look!
I would love to see this beautiful estate. What a magnificent home. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live in such a palace. 🙂
Me, neither. It seems like it would be such a luxuriant life. But, I re-thought that a little bit on the Butler’s Tour. Maybe part of that lifestyle is more tedious than luxurious? Of course, I’d jump at the chance to find out for myself. 😉
😆
Ha. Yes. Little summer house indeed.
Love the idea of the children’s guide. It’s great when places go that extra mile to make sure all types of visitors are happy.
I agree. We listened to the children’s audio guides at Alcatraz, too. I actually find them more appealing, but still listen to the adult versions, too, for more facts.
This has been on my “to-do” list for years. I’m a sucker for big ol grand houses and the massive amount of secrets they hold. I’m guessing we could have our own version of Downton Abbey, yes?
Hopefully your post is the kick in the pants I need to schedule a visit. Now I’m even more determined. 🙂
Yes! My mother saw a book in the gift shop that tried to spin the Biltmore staff into a sort of Downton Abbey version. I think she bought it.
Hope you enjoy your visit when you do go. I’ll never forget it.
My sister lives outside of Charlotte and keeps saying we need to go here. The closest experience I had to this was Versailles. The biggest bummer with that trip was the Hall of Mirrors being under construction, and that was the one thing I really wanted to see there.
There are a ton of wineries just outside of Portland, and they make phenomenal wine here. Can’t wait to explore some this summer!
Let us know how Oregon wineries are. Delicious, I’m sure!
I will be sure to write a full blogging report. : )
Wow, what a place! I’m glad it’s open to the public to see now – and the wine tasting and live music sound like a really lovely evening. 🙂
I’ve been to other opulent places, but there’s something different about this one.
I love the idea that there was a guide just for children (and that it was narrated by the dog, so cute!). The library sounds fantastic.
I thought it was a clever idea, too. They definitely knew what would appeal to kids.
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