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It had been on my bucket list for decades and I finally can check it off – a tour of Biltmore Estate and Gardens. Biltmore is America’s largest home. Taking my best friend, Vicki, with me, we elected to schedule the audio tour. This provides an array of informative information about the rooms you walk through as your visit three floors and the basement.

George Vanderbilt began construction of this massive 250 room, 175,000 square foot French Renaissance chateau in 1889. Originally the property is sits on consisted of 125,000 acres, now reduced to 8,000 acres. The family sold a considerable amount of their property to the federal government for the creation of Pisgah National Forest.

The home was completed in 1895 when George and his wife Edith entertained guests there on Christmas Eve for the first time. The home has more than four acres of floor space and includes 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, and 35 bedrooms.

There is a banquet hall with a 70-foot ceiling, breakfast dining room and servant’s dining room. Other features include an indoor pool, bowling alley, and gymnasium. Each floor has a living/gathering area where guests could gather and socialize before going to the main floor for their meal.

The family opened their Biltmore home to the public on March 15, 1930. The purpose of the opening was to help Asheville, North Carolina survive the great depression. It also provided the family with income to assist in maintaining the estate. At that time the cost for a tour was $2.00 for an adult and $1.00 for children under age 12.

Family members remained in residence until 1956, when the last members moved from the estate, and since that time it has been operated as an historic house museum. The home became designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1963. Though no longer a family residence, it remains a family business operated by the fourth and fifth generations of George Vanderbilt’s decedents. The business has more than 2,400 employees.

20 Observations

Taking the tour of the beautiful gardens and home in mid-April we were rewarded with perfect weather. I did make the following observations during my visit:

1. After a year of very little walking due to Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, walking the gardens and home of Biltmore is tiring—the place is massive!

2. The audio tour is worth the additional expense and provides a lot of interesting information on the rooms, family, and events.

3. I can’t imagine living in a home that is 3-1/2 miles from my property’s entry gate and traversing it by horse and buggy as they would have done at the time it was built.

4. Walking the massive gardens I imagined doing that in the late 1800’s with the ladies in their full-length dresses. It made me think of the places you read about in historical romance novels.

5. Thirty-five (35) guest rooms is a lot of company!

6. The time to discover there is an elevator for those who have mobility issues is not half-way up the grand staircase. The elevator is the original one installed in 1895 and travels to all four floors. However in the interest of preservation it is now only operated between the first and second flours where the climb up and down the grand staircase is difficult.

7. There is nothing so mind-boggling as to stand in Vanderbilt’s master bedroom and realize his sleeping area is larger than the motor home I live in full-time.

8. I can’t imagine being 25 years old and a newlywed when you are brought to this massive home to manage and see it for the first time. Edith and George were married in Paris and she did not see their home until their return to the United States.

9. When driving the property a couple families of Canadian geese and goslings can cause a traffic gawker delay, which made us late for our wine tasting.

10. Forty-Three (43) is a lot of bathrooms to clean.

11. Biltmore makes very good wine—don’t miss the tasting and shop the wine store. The first vines were planted in 1971 and the winery officially opened in 1985.

12. I can’t imagine wearing formal wear to dinner every evening, but that is what they did! Tables were set with the finest linens, and dinner usually consisted of six courses.

13. America’s largest home is interesting and massive, with hidden doors, an indoor pool, 2-lane bowling alley, indoor gym, and more.

14. I love the 2-story library. One of my childhood dreams was of having such a room in my 3-story mansion when I grew up. Unfortunately reality and childhood dreams do not always coincide. The library has more than 10,000 volumes, each personally selected by George Vanderbilt himself. The second floor balcony style area is accessible from secret hidden doorways, making it easy for guests to visit and select a book to read.

15. In addition to bedrooms there were dressing rooms because it is inappropriate to walk through the house without being properly clothed. The rooms have no mirrors because a maid would make sure you looked proper before exiting the dressing room.

16. A billiards room with two (2) tables and tiered seating for viewers, plus a secret door leading to the gentleman’s smoking room is a wonderful spot.

17. The back terrace with its spectacular view is massive. There were no chairs, but it would be the perfect place to sit and read a book or have a meal.

18. As I watched a horse and carriage move along a trail from my terrace vantage point, I imagined how wonderful it must have been to live in a place of such grandeur.

19. The home has a very unusual outside design, complete with numerous gargoyles, and is not at all what I consider attractive. In my opinion, it has an almost scary, uninviting, appearance.

20. The walk through the gardens, greenhouses, azalea gardens, and around the pond is lengthy but does not disappoint. If you have the ability to walk a lengthy distance, do not miss the beauty of this area.

After The Tour

Following our tour of the gardens and estate, Vicki and I headed over to the Biltmore Winery in Antler Hill Village for our complementary wine tasting, included in our tour ticket purchase. We enjoyed sampling five different wines. You receive a discount when you purchase at least three bottles in the adjoining wine store, and of course we each took advantage of the discount and walked out toting our bags of wine.

A wonderful, exhausting day that is well worth the visit. I hope to make it back someday for another tour. I’ve heard the rooms you access are changed from time to time, as touring the entire 250-room mansion would be extremely time consuming. Our tour took us about two hours. If you are in the vicinity of Asheville, North Carolina, don’t miss the opportunity to visit America’s largest home.  Please enjoy the slideshow of photos from the house and gardens below.