George Washington Vanderbilt II, youngest scion to the Vanderbilt shipping and railroad fortune, commissioned the building of this French Renaissance inspired chateau. He opened the Biltmore House's doors for the first time on Christmas Eve 1895. At that time, the Biltmore House was the largest private residence in the U.S. measuring 175,000 sq ft. with over 2 million brickwork hidden behind limestone facade on a 125,000 acre estate. Today, despite its non private residence status, it is still considered America's largest resident home; a worthy American Castle.
During our Christmas tour, the grounds were adorned with a myriad of white-lit trees and luminaries and the interiors decorated with over 100 Christmas trees, 1000 wreaths and bows, and 1800 poinsettias. Live piano accompaniment of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite played under glass roofed illuminated panes of the "Winter Garden" atrium, which added to the ambiance of festive elegance. Inside, the self-guided tour flowed fluidly and we were able to cover all four floors under 2 hours. The chateau had 255 rooms inclusive of a basement bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, and turn-of-the-century exercise equipment room.
The house was majestic and a beacon of opulence as furniture and decor hailed from Vanderbilt's extensive European and Asian travels.
We were not allowed to take photos of its interiors, therefore I uploaded photos from the web to give you an inkling of what we saw.
Here's a great pic of Debbie. I told her it woud look great on next year's Christmas Card. LoL. Doesn't it ooze yuletide cheer?
After our tour we walked over to the stables next door, which had been converted to a courtyard area of shops and eateries. We were taking "blog-ops" of each other, when a hottie approached us to see if we wanted our group pic taken by him. He was so hot we could only nod mutely, and then regretted afterwards that we didn't contrive to buy him a cup of cocoa so we could talk to him longer. LoL.
We did see him again. Shannon was taking my pic when said hottie walked past, and her shot was a reflection of what she was looking at when she clicked on my photo. LoL. I was, um, standing behind him in this shot. If you look closely, you can see part of my coat and scarf.
After the hottie incident, we perused the gift shops, and walked past Dickensesque Christmas Carolers singing in the courtyard. As the evening deepened, I captured a beautiful shot of the Biltmore House reflected by the waters of the outdoor fountain.
Here are more pics from the web that I uploaded. As we left Biltmore House, this is what we saw....
Driving past the the gate house, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that our tour was over. If you haven't done "Christmas at Biltmore", be sure to do so by its closing date on January 4th. You'll find yourself enchanted with the majesty of the Biltmore House and its bounty of Christmas cheer.