With so many grieving and overwhelmed by what has happened in Asheville and Florida, I thought I would take a moment to honor all those in the area and remind myself of the beauty that we experienced in the summer of 2023.
I received an email from the Biltmore the other day with an update on operations. A heart felt email talking about their community, a note to their many employees, and information on the estate itself. It stated that they were assessing damage and that they hoped to be up and operational by October 15 but asked for patience and to stay tuned. I have to say I was quite impressed with the tone of the message and it made me feel even better about this organization. For more information you can go to Biltmore Estates.
Biltmore was a place that I never expected to visit. In 2021 on our way home from our southern road trip, we drove by a sign that said Biltmore Estates. I had no idea we were that close. Heading into our 3rd week on the road, we were ready for home. I longing looked at the sign saying to myself hi Biltmore, and by Biltmore. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I love old homes and touring house museums. I like to study the architecture and the home furnishings.
When My daughter planned a family vacation in Eastern TN, I just had to look to see how far it was from Gatlinburg to Asheville. A fairly easy drive I decided we needed a “girls excursion”, so I booked tickets for the Estate.
Driving through the Blue Ridge Mountain Range, we experienced such aww in the beauty before us. Well Florida, not so much. She gets car sick! On our approach she was very ready to get out of the car!
As the shuttle approached and the big house comes into view, the gorgeous lawn stretched out in front of us, it’s impossible to take it all in. A cool and blustery day we waited in line for our turn. The house itself takes up 4 acres!
Entering this French style chateau, you come upon a room that they refer to as The Winter Garden. Filled with palms and tropicals the foliage is dwarfed by the architectural detail. Its domed coffered ceiling just makes you gasp. A central fountain beckons you to come in and sit a spell. Of course you can’t do that but, I can pretend! This would be my space.
The rooms are all numbered and you take a self guided tour with a head set. Off the grand hallway you wander into the Bachelors’ Wing. A retreat for the Vanderbilt male guests. The Billiard Room with a small reading nook and a couple of chairs. Although women were welcome, it was primarily a place where gentlemen could play billiards on the Carom table with no pockets, or play pool with 6 pockets. Resembling mens clubs with oak paneling and intricate plaster ceiling.
Two hidden doors on either side of the fireplace will take you to other locations within this wing.
The largest room in the home is the Banquet Hall. It’s imposing size a mere 72’x42′ with 70′ barrel vaulted ceilings is astonishing in it size and presence. The Vanderbilts would dine here whether for two or many. Architect Richard Morris Hunt designed special furniture to accommodate the vastness of this space. Two gilt trimmed throne chairs, an oak dining table and 67 chairs. Everywhere you rest your eye there is something new to see. Why 67 chairs and not 68? I don’t have a clue.
A set of 5 tapestries are stitched of wool, silk and metallic thread, part of 7 created from 1546-1551 and purchased by George Vanderbilt in Paris in 1887.
The Breakfast Room is more intimate, and designed for smaller gatherings. I loved this room with Italian marble wainscoting and a fireplace surround with Wedgwood Jasperware style tiles. The tooled leather wall covering, just made you want to go up and touch it. Don’t!!! The plaster ceiling panels are highlighted by a gold glaze and finished with intricately carved heavy pendants, that finish with a small acorn, found in the Vanderbilt coat of arms.
Breakfast would be served with gold rimmed Minton porcelain china, Baccarat crystal water goblets etched with the Vanderbilt monogram, placed on Irish linen damask table cloths, embroidered in France. During the 1993 restoration of the Breakfast Room, 350 yards of silk cut velvet was ordered. The same fabric house was trusted to reproduce the fabric again.
Draped off from the main residence, The Salon was never finished in George Vanderbilts time. Turned into a Turkish sitting room in the 1920’s by Edith Vanderbilt. She draped the ceiling and furnished it with pieces from George Vanderbilts original collection. A suite of 8 Louis the XVI style settees, and chairs of ebonized wood with Ormolu decoration. There are also 2 Monet’s currently on display over the side board. So fun to see a Monet outside of a museum.
But then just off this room was my very favorite space. Walking thru a pair of doors to the outside balcony, with a vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and fog in the distance. I stood out here for quite a few minutes just taking in the expanse of space.
The Music Room is up next on this tour of Public Spaces. Richard Morris Hunt always intended for this space to be the music room, but it remained unfinished until 1976. Decorated in a French Renaissance Style the room features wood panels of red oak, harvested from the forests surrounding Biltmore. Polychrome painting enhance the many boxed beams on the ceiling.
Displaying many treasures the fireplace mantel, designed by Hunt and carved with Albrecht Durer’s initials and life dates, was found under the stables before being installed into the music room. Next to the fireplace are a collection of 12 apostle figures with candlesticks. The work of Johan Joachim Handler (1706-75) the master modeler for Meissen Factory near Dresden. The figures once belonged to Empress Maria Theresa of the Hapsburgs. An important woodcut print, from the late 18th Century graces the over mantel.
Off the Grand Entrance Hall is the Tapestry Gallery. This 90′ long gallery was designed by Hunt to accommodate 3 very large tapestries dating back to 1530 Brussels. This sitting room is furnished with Persian rugs, part of 700 George Vanderbilt purchased in his travels. One trip he purchased 300 carpets from the same vendor in London.
John Singer Sargent was commissioned to paint portraits of George Vanderbilt and his mother Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt. Sargent was one of the most important portraitist of the day and one of my personal favorites. It was fun to see the real deal!
The Library was dark and moody and everything you’d expect. Spiral staircase, Library ladder, huge fireplace. A book lover from childhood George Vanderbilt amassed a collection of over 20,000 books. 10,000 are housed at Biltmore in the walnut book stacks. A hidden passage behind the fireplace over mantel, gives easy access to the second story of volumes.
The ceiling in this room takes your breath away. A collection of 13 canvas’ measuring 64’x32′ grace the ceiling. Painted in the 18th Century by Giovanni Pellegrini, this showstopper originally graced Pisani Palace ballroom in Venice. In 1999 the furnishings in this room were painstakingly restored to its original glory.
I am going to end this here. There is so much more to see, so stay tuned. If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend a visit to this majestic home. Even if it’s not your thing, it is so worthwhile, and the closest this country will ever come to a “Palace”. This home and it truly is a home, takes the term For the Love of Old to a whole new level.
Thanks for stopping
Shelley
