Asheville North Carolina, who has heard of it? Well…you are about to now!
North Carolina, is bordered by the states of Virginia, Tennessee and, of course, South Carolina. Asheville is located on the western side of the state, at the base of the Apalachian mountains also called, in this area, the Blue ridge mountains because of the blueish hue that envelops them. At this time of year, the colors were more in golden tones, and spectacular. Very similar to Quebec a month agao although I noticed more deep reds here while we have more oranges….it is undoubtedly due to the differences in tree varieties.
What brings people to Asheville you wonder? The Biltmore estate of course! This estate was purchased by George W. Vanderbilt who began building the house in 1889. He was 27 and single at the time! He officially “opened” the house on christmas eve of 1895. Three years later he married and brought his bride to live here. Their only child, Cornelia, was born at Biltmore house and was married there also to a Mister Francis Amherst Cecil. They in turn had 2 sons, one of them William A.V. Cecil owns the estate, and with his son, William A.V. Cecil Jr oversees the running and upkeep of the estate. They do not live in the main house but maintain it exactly the way it was in the days of their grand and great grand father. It is open to the public 365 days a year.
It is an imposing building. The inside surface of the house is measured in acres! FOUR to be exact! It has 250 rooms and 65 fireplaces, a bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool, a library containing more than 10,000 volumes, a roof top observatory, a billard room, as well as a glass roofed winter garden, and bathrooms!!!! it seems like each bedroom had its ensuite! All the rooms are furnished with furniture, drapes, wall paper, accessories and art work. For the christmas season they decorate with hundreds lit and decorated trees. Some of them were already up so I got a preview. It is specatcular! On the fourth floor are the servants quarters, and you could see the various uniforms they wore at differents times of day while in the basement I had fun peeking into the various kitchens: the pasty one, the rotisserie one, the main one as well as all the pantries and refrigerators…there are several rooms to handle the laundry and well as one just for flower arranging… I could go on and on. This visit really gives you a feel for the day to day lives of the people who lived or worked or visited the estate.
Unfortunately photographs are not allowed inside the house. But the carvings on the outside walls can give you an idea of how detailed everything is.
Obviously Mr Vanderbilt chose the location on top of a hill with care thus providing fabulous views from the various windows and terraces. The landscaping of the property is up to par also. There are wonderful gardens as well as a consevatory, a vineyard and winery, and a deerpark.
Mr Vanderbilt was a visionary using the newest technoligy of his time, which explains why, even if the house looks like a European castle, it has large windows, a glass roofed room with a fountain, as well as electric heating, running water and the telephone…in this sense it is very american.
This was a most enjoyable visit and I recommend it to anyone travelling to North Carolina. It is well worth the detour.