We visited Biltmore Estates, totally amazing architecture. The house is 175,000 sq.ft. with 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms and 98 fireplaces completed in 1895. The carriage house next to it has been converted to restaurants and gift shops.
This is looking from the front door. When Don took the above picture he was standing next to a large circular pool and fountain. You can see the back edge of the pool on this picture. The stone walls are actually stairs going up to the upper lawns with a statue at the end. We didn't walk up there.
We chose to see the pools and gardens instead. This is built in the mountains so everything is a different level. A level down from the house are these pools with water plants and I'm sure lots of fountains.
If you were facing the house, I was standing next to the left side of the house when I took the above picture. When I turned around, I took this picture of a large patio next to the house. These twisted trees filled a roof to the patio, I would love to see it in the summer when the leaves have grown.
Looking over the back and side edges of the patio, you could see this landscape. Everytime we looked over the edge Don would say "What a great place for a golf course." Obviously the Vanderbilts didn't play golf.
This was looking over the side of the patio at the back side of the house.
This is a view of the house from the side. You can see the patio roof I was talking about.
There were statues like this at the 4 corners of the extended gravel patio.
This is a foot bridge over the road that goes to the gardens. The brick work and stone work was remarkable.
This was the conservatory housing a huge amount of tropical plants. There were many greenhouses behind this with lots of plants ready to plant in the many gardens and pots.
After visiting the gardens, we took a tour of the Biltmore house (no pictures allowed). After seeing the billiard room, dining room, library, etc. I felt l was in a Clue game. I had read that the Vanderbilts were good to their staff. That was obvious during the tour. Servants had I believe the entire 4th floor. They were single rooms and all good sized rooms with their own living and game rooms.
After the tour, we took a ride through the property. George Vanderbilt originally bought 125,000 acres, also building a town. The estate now owns 8,000 acres, including a working farm and a winery. The remainder of the acreage is now the town and Pisgah National Forrest. There was a pond and a lagoon on the property, along with many streams and brooks. There were several of these bridges that I like so much.
Those of you who know me know that I can't just see something like this and not do some research on it. I wondered how the Vanderbilts made their money. I found out that Jan Aertsen van de Bilt emigrated here from Holland around 1650. They were generations of farmers on Staten Island. One of his decendents, Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1810 at the age of 16, borrowed $100 from his mother and started a ferry service across New York Bay. He ended up with a fleet of 100 steam boats going as far as Europe and Central America. Some 50 years later he earned a second fortune in railroads including New York Central. He died at the age of 83 leaving his $100 million estate to his oldest son William who eventually doubled the empire assets. It is William's youngest son George who built this house. There was also a long list of very generous things they did, like funding the Metropolitan Opera and several schools and universities.
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