In 1889, George Vanderbilt purchased 125,000 acres (200 square miles) in Asheville, NC. For the next six years, he collaborated with architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to create the home and gardens of Biltmore House. When Vanderbilt opened the house in 1895, he was in his early 30's, single, and quite a catch! He did get married three years later to Edith Stuyvesant Dresser, and in 1900 they had a daughter named Cornelia.
The Biltmore House is a fine example of what money and good taste can create. The home is filled with art, beautiful fabrics and furnishings. I spent three hours touring 55 rooms, one third of the house. Along with the numerous guest rooms, dining rooms, smoking room, library, music room, there was also an indoor pool, bowling alley, and exercise room! The basement contained a pastry kitchen, a rotisserie kitchen, the main kitchen with at least a dozen hanging copper pots, a laundry room and ironing room. With guests in the house, the kitchen required 30 dozen eggs a week. Friends were invited to stay for weeks at at time. Of course, the house staff was extensive because there was such a tremendous workload in order to entertain in a large and formal way.
In the afternoon, I walked outside in the gardens for nearly two more hours. The famous walled garden covers four acres and has five full-time gardeners. There's also a conservatory, a pond, a meadow. Today, the grounds are only 8000 acres because after Vanderbilt's early death, his wife sold the land to the Pisgah National Forest. Vanderbilt was responsible for starting the first forest ranger operations in the country in Pisgah. I ended the day at the Biltmore Winery, converted from the old dairy barns and opened since 1985. After extensive tasting, I did buy a few bottles to bring home. (http://www.biltmore.com)
Even though I felt very mellow from the wine tasting and wanted to return to my hotel, I was determined to see the entire estate so I drove over to the farm area. I walked through some gardens and saw a rapid fluttering amidst the blooms. Of course, a hummingbird! I randomly pointed it out to a gentleman standing next to me. He said hummingbirds were fairly common in North Carolina. I said I rarely see one in NJ. His reply was to laugh and say that's because they've all fled due to the high taxes. LOL.
