On Monday, I shared a little about our time in the cute little town of Sylva, NC. Today I want to tell you about our trip to the big house!
The Biltmore Estate is the largest home in the country and is located in Asheville. Built in 1895, it sits on 8,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Biltmore was built by the Vanderbilt family and is still family owned. The house itself is over 176,000 square feet with 250 rooms 65 fireplaces, and 3 kitchens. Because who doesn’t need 3 kitchens?!
The last time I visited Biltmore I was about 10 years old, so I didn’t remember a ton. The sheer size of the house is awe inspiring, and the amount of detail put into every single inch of this place is incredible.
But I’m just gonna be honest with y’all. I was pretty disappointed with Biltmore as a whole. And for one reason only: Too. Many. People. The house and grounds were stunning, but it was almost impossible to move with all of the people that they crammed into the house. Clear photos were pretty much impossible to get. I felt rushed by the people behind us to get out of the way, yet most people seemed to have no awareness that other people were around them.
I wish that they would limit the number of people that they let in at a time. It doesn’t help that children under 10 get in free. It felt like a zoo in there!
What you see here are pretty much the only good photos I could snag. But as you can see, the house is unbelievable! The 4-story chandelier in the main staircase will take your breath away.
The swimming pool was one of my favorite places in the house. It’s actually in the basement!
Y’all know I love some blue and white, and there was plenty to find at Biltmore. It was sprinkled throughout the house, and then I found the jackpot in one of the storage rooms in the basement.
So, I know I said there was only one reason I was disappointed in Biltmore, but really there was one other. It was hot. Like, really hot. Like, my face melted off and my shirt turned a different color hot. I didn’t realize there was no AC inside…poor planning on my part. It actually felt amazing when we finally got outside where there was a breeze! Here’s our only attempt at a photo of us…
Not pretty. Without a doubt, our favorite part of the day was the winery tour. Biltmore has about 20 wines that they craft, and at the end of the winery tour you can try a few. The tasting happens in a cold room underground, which was really appealing considering it was 95 degrees outside.
We decided to pay a little extra and do the premium wine tasting, which was a mistake. We came home with 8 bottles. Ooops! You know I can’t resist a good bottle of bubbly or rose!
And that wraps it up for a quick little NC mountain getaway! Since I didn’t get a ton of photos in the house, here’s a few for you to peruse from the Biltmore website.
Have you been to Biltmore? What did you think?
I’d love to visit the Biltmore. Perhaps late Fall might be a better time?? The photos you did capture are beautiful… :)
Jeanne recently posted…How I Became a Helicopter Mom
I am so sorry you were at Biltmore during our horribly hot summer! I hope they at least had some fans. It is much better temperature wise in spring and fall and on weekdays. The fall color season and Christmas season are beautiful but also crowded especially on weekends and holiday breaks.
If you are close enough to visit three or more times a year, the best deal is to buy an annual pass so you can visit different parts at a time and not feel like you must take in everything in one day. Living six hours away would make that difficult.
Let me know next time you are coming this way. I am so glad you loved our little town; I love it too. It has been a good place to live, work, and raise a family since we arrived in 1968. Sissy