The Gilded Age

Years ago I learned that there was a castle in North Carolina. I remembered how much I loved visiting Hearst Castle in California as a teenager and was immediately intrigued by what might be in Asheville NC. In the mean time, I visited Newport, Rhode Island several times and other castles throughout the country, so I lost some of my fascination with the Biltmore castle. However, when we arrived at the estate this afternoon, I realized that this place was indeed something to be intrigued by. At 175,000 square feet and with 250 rooms it is the largest privately owned home in the country. It was completed in 1895 in the height of the gilded age by George Washington Vanderbilt II and is still owned by his family. We toured this opulent summer retreat and marveled at it's fine wood work, lavish tapestries and modern conveniences of the time, such as it's indoor swimming pool, refrigerated pantries and plumbed bathrooms. (Because we were not allowed to take photos inside the residence, I borrowed indoor images from the Internet.)

Mr. Vanderbilt was said to have been the best read man of his time, with over 23,000 volumes, half of which were in this library.

This winter garden room was where the Vanderbilt's only child, Cornelia, had her wedding breakfast.

The dining room was our favorite room. I especially love the fireplaces in the home. Almost every room had one and they were all unique from one another.

According to Travel and Leisure, the gardens at The Biltmore are in the top ten botanical gardens in the world. We wandered around the walled gardens, the conservatory, the bass pond and the azalea gardens.

I asked Sophia why she wasn't smiling in her photograph and she said that she was trying to pose like the Mona Lisa. I think that she did a good job.

A Tiffany Lamps display had just been brought in for the summer, so we admired the stained glass works of art in the Biltmore museum, listened to outdoor music on the lawn and bought ice cream from the Vanderbilt family's dairy. Our stop at the Biltmore will definitely be remembered.