That's A Lot of House

I have been to the Biltmore House two times before, but my mom and I decided to take a third trip to Asheville, NC to see it. We were very excited to spend the day there and be in the presense of this beautiful and historic home. It is actually the largest home in America!

For a little background on Biltmore, it was not open until 1895. George W. Vanderbilt had it built and he later met his wife and they had a daughter. When we went on the tour, we chose to get the headsets, which gave us additional information on each room. There are 250 rooms in this house, and no, we were not allowed to see them all. Some of the rooms we did see included: Billiard Room, Breakfast Room, Music Room, Library (wow!), Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom, Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom, four guest rooms, Bathroom, Halloween Room, Bowling Alley, Swimming Pool, Gymnasium, Kitchens, Smoking Room, and that is just to name a few! I just have to say that the library was ridiculous! It reminded me of the library from "Beauty and the Beast," but real! Something else I noticed is that the house color scheme is basically a maroonish color. I got excited whenever I saw a room that was not that color.

I do have to point out that the woman of the house, Edith Vanderbilt, and I seem to have several similar qualities. She was 6'0", had long brown wavy hair that she wore up a lot, loved "out there" fashion and loved any type of cake and dessert. Anyway, I just thought that was funny!

Before we left on this journey, I looked up Biltmore on the computer and several movies and television shows were actually shot at this location. The most recent one in my mind is from one of my favorite shows, "One Tree Hill." Brooke and Julian went there to consider it as a place to hold their wedding. That episode was a few months ago, but oh well. They stood in the iconic spot with the house in the background. It really is beautiful to just stand there and look at it. The outside is just as detailed and exquisite as the inside.

I hope that I can go back a fourth time one day because there is so much to do there. Not only can you look at the house, but there are several trails to walk, a beautiful flower area, stable shops and restaurants, winery, carriage rides, special tours, an on-site hotel and more!

My mom and I had a wonderful time! And word to the wise, make sure to wear walking shoes. Much of the landmark is outside, so also dress according to the weather!

Photo caption: fanpop.com