BGuthrie Photos: NC -- Asheville -- Biltmore Estate -- Village Green

NC -- Asheville -- Biltmore Estate -- Village Green:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[1] BILTVG_210505_001.JPG	[2] BILTVG_210505_008.JPG	[3] BILTVG_210505_013.JPG
[4] BILTVG_210505_016.JPG	[5] BILTVG_210505_020.JPG	[6] BILTVG_210505_025.JPG
[7] BILTVG_210505_030.JPG	[8] BILTVG_210505_036.JPG	[9] BILTVG_210505_038.JPG
[10] BILTVG_210505_041.JPG	[11] BILTVG_210505_051.JPG	[12] BILTVG_210505_053.JPG
[13] BILTVG_210505_055.JPG	[14] BILTVG_210505_060.JPG	[15] BILTVG_210505_063.JPG
[16] BILTVG_210505_065.JPG	[17] BILTVG_210505_068.JPG	[18] BILTVG_210505_071.JPG
[19] BILTVG_210505_075.JPG	[20] BILTVG_210505_079.JPG	[21] BILTVG_210505_082.JPG
[22] BILTVG_210505_084.JPG	[23] BILTVG_210505_091.JPG	[24] BILTVG_210505_093.JPG
[25] BILTVG_210505_099.JPG	[26] BILTVG_210505_106.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BILTVG_210505_020.JPG: COVID-19 Warning Your well-being is very important to us. While visiting Biltmore, please follow all posted health and safety instructions (also posted at biltmore.com/update). * We have taken reasonable additional measures in an effort to reduce exposure to COVID-19 for you, other guests, and employees. * An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any place where people are present. * * While any person is at risk of potential exposure, senior citizens and guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. * By visiting Biltmore, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and any other communicable disease. * An inherent risk is a risk that cannot be eliminated.
2. BILTVG_210505_036.JPG: Make a Wish Coins collected from this fountain are donated to Asheville Humane Society in memory of the Vanderbilts' beloved St. Bernard, Cedric.
3. BILTVG_210505_041.JPG: Village Green What is now Antler Hill Village & Winery was once the bustling hub of Biltmore's farming community. Families farmed the land, tended livestock, and gathered together to celebrate the seasons, harvests, and events in their daily lives. Today, you can share in the welcoming spirit of our charming village. Enjoy exploring at your own pace, from casual dining to exhibitions to shopping throughout the day and into the evening.
4. BILTVG_210505_063.JPG: The Vanderbilts At Home and Abroad
5. BILTVG_210505_075.JPG: The Vanderbilts and Their Pets George and Edith Vanderbilt loved pets, with many dogs living in style in Biltmore House over the years, including Saint Bernards and wolfhounds. The most beloved dog was Cedric, a stately Saint Bernard who was so admired that the Vanderbilts gave several of his offspring to friends and family. The Vanderbilts' daughter, Cornelia, continued the family tradition by having not only dogs but also a parrot named Coco and even a pet skunk.
6. BILTVG_210505_084.JPG: Cornelia and Cedric by Vadim Bora August 2010
7. BILTVG_210505_099.JPG: Buckspring Lodge Ranger's Cabin
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Biltmore Estate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biltmore House is a French Renaissance-inspired chateau near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II in September between 1888 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at 175,000 square feet. Still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age.

History:

In the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt II, youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt, began to make regular visits with his mother to the Asheville area. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to create his own summer estate in the area, as his older brothers and sisters had built opulent summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, and Hyde Park, New York.

Vanderbilt's idea was to replicate the working estates of Europe. He commissioned Richard Morris Hunt, who had previously designed houses for various family members, to design the house in imitation of several Loire Valley chateaux, including the Chateau de Blois. Wanting the best, Vanderbilt also employed Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds, including the deliberately rustic three-mile Approach Road, and Gifford Pinchot to manage the forests. Intending that the estate could be self-supporting, Vanderbilt set up scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms and a dairy. The estate included its own village (today Biltmore Village) and even a church. Family members and friends invited from all over the United States and beyond came to experience the opulent estate with the splendor of Olmsted's sweet-smelling gardens, rich foods at the 64-seat banquet table, and the stunning beauty of Vanderbilt's mountainous grounds. Famous guests through the years include author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, Presidents McKinley, Wilson, Nixon, and Charles, Prince of Wales.

Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments, and the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. After Vanderbilt died of complications from an emergency appendectomy in 1914, his widow, Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, finalized the sale of much of the original 125,000 acres (506 km�) to the federal government (begun by Vanderbilt before his death), which became the nucleus of Pisgah National Forest.

The estate today covers approximately 8,000 acres (32 km�) and is split in half by the French Broad River. It is owned by The Biltmore Company, which is controlled by Vanderbilt's grandson, William A.V. Cecil, II. In 1963, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Tourist attraction:

In an attempt to bolster the Depression-riven economy, Vanderbilt's only child, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, and husband John Amherst Cecil opened Biltmore House to the public on March 15, 1930.

The house was occupied less and less permanently until 1956, when it was permanently opened to the public as a house museum. Visitors from all over the world continue to be amazed at the 70,000 gallon indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, turn-of-the-century exercise equipment, two-story library, and other rooms filled with art works, furniture, and 19th century novelties like elevators, forced-air heating, centrally-controlled clocks, fire alarms, and an intercom system. It remains a major tourist attraction in western North Carolina, with over 1,000,000 visitors each year.

In 2005 the fourth floor of the house was opened by the Department of Museum Services headed by Ellen Rickman, the director. The floor reveals the life of a Biltmore House maid with a Servants’ Hall, Servants’ Bedrooms and Bathrooms, and three house closets. The Architectural Model Room showcases Hunt’s 1889 model of Biltmore House, while the Observatory offers views of the estate from a central vantage point at the top of the main tower.

Besides the house, the grounds also feature gardens and a winery that are also both open to the public, and the Inn on Biltmore Estate, a Mobil Travel Guide four-star and AAA four-diamond 213-room hotel.

Future plans include the restoration of the Oak Sitting Room (Spring 2009) and Second Floor Living Hall (2012), as well as the opening of the Library Wing guest rooms.

The Biltmore Estate ranked 8th in a 2007 poll by the American Institute of Architects of the top 150 favorite structures in the United States.

Movie roles:

Biltmore Estate's grounds and buildings have appeared in a number of major motion pictures:

* The Clearing (2002)
* Hannibal (2001)
* Patch Adams (1998)
* My Fellow Americans (1996)
* Richie Rich (1994)
* Forrest Gump (1994)
* Last of the Mohicans (1992)
* Mr. Destiny (1990)
* The Private Eyes (1981)
* Being There (1979)
* The Swan (1956)
* Tap Roots (1948)
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