The Day at Biltmore Estate

  Today is Wednesday 10/2/13. It is a glorious day in Woodfin, NC. The Pittsburgh Pirates won their first post season game in 21 years last night and will face the Cardinals in a best of five division series round. Thank God for the Pirates because the Steelers are woeful. At least I have some type of sports entertainment.
  Today we visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Biltmore is the largest private residence in the country built by George W. Vanderbilt in 1895. It is an absolutely amazing edifice. The house is modeled in the style of a French chateau but there isn't a chateau in all of France this grand.

It is hard to believe it was built at the turn on the 20'th century when things such as electricity, refrigeration, central heat, and the telephone were in their infancy but are all built into the home. There are acres of gardens and lawns that were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who laid out Central Park in New York City among the 8000 acres. He also helped in the selection of the site because Vanderbilt wanted to maintain open spaces and have magnificent views from different areas of the house such as the loggia off the library and tapestry room.

  I won't bore the reader with facts and statistics about the estate but you have got to love a guy who has a: billiard room with secret passages; a gun room; a 23,000 volume two storey library; a seven storey banquet hall; a smoking room; an indoor bowling alley; an indoor 70,000 gallon swimming pool (that had to be emptied and refilled after only a few days because there was no filtration system back then); 65 fireplaces; an entire bachelor's wing; and a stable with running water and heat. (which is now a restaurant where we ate lunch in one of the stalls. Just call me Mr. Ed).
  Mr. Vanderbilt passed away in 1914 and his wife Edith opened the estate to the public in 1930 during the Depression to support the local economy. Their only child Cornelia would eventually become the owner with her husband, the Honorable John Francis Amherst Cecil. The descendants still own the property and I am sure make a nice profit at $44 to $59 a head for admission. There is also a winery and of course wine tastings that are included with the admission along with access to all the gardens. I'll take grapes over flowers any day.
 Until next time: in vino veritas.