Biltmore Estate - Asheville, NC

This past weekend was about moms and visiting new places. There is nothing better than spending some quality time with family and enjoying a new experience together. Our destination was the famed Biltmore Estate built by George Vanderbilt just over 100 years ago. This house has everything a rich person could afford and poor man dream of having. The price of admission alone almost made me dream I could go for a one day visit. If you have been to Disney World then you can certainly afford to go to see this mansion. Like I said before, it was Mother's Day weekend so we were not going to hold back. The visit was worth every penny as evident by the beautiful sunny and cool weather we had to accompany our first experience at the Biltmore.

I have never been a huge fan of history. Unfortunately, I cannot accurately recall any of the details of what I had learned about, but here's a summary. Basically, there was a rich guy with a lot of money. He wanted a big house and a lot of land. The land Mr. Vanderbilt decided on happened to be somewhat crappy barren land with no features. I'm sure he got it for next to nothing. Talk about a great real estate purchase. Apparently, the weather had its way with the land and eroded the landscape. Mr. Vanderbilt, with all of his money, decided he would revitalize the land, build a large house much bigger than anything else in America, and hire a bunch of servants to keep it clean. Later on he sold a bunch of it back to the government. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me if you have a lot of money and not much else to spend it on.

In all seriousness, Mr. Vanderbilt and family did a great job of building a National icon. The legacy of his family lives on through his only daughter. Somehow the house and property got passed along through the family which now pretty much runs the estate as a theme park of sorts. If you ask our group, the best part of the day trip was visiting the winery for "tasting." Along with the sampling of wines bottled on the estate, there was an assortment of complimentary snacks to keep the wine tasters happy.




From a photographer's point of view, there were many elements to capture. At times I was exhausted just trying to compose shots. The landscape varied greatly. Between the forests, gardens, house, and other elements of the estate, I was actually fairly happy the day had ended. The most frustrating part of the day was not being able to photograph inside the house. I suppose the only logical explanation there is that the flash bulbs of thousands of tourists could eventually fade the interior paints and fabrics that decorate the house. Bummer.

If you ever visit N. Carolina I highly recommend you visit Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. With pictures and good memories in my mind, I look forward to my continual exploration of this state and the many historical sites ready to be photographed. Enjoy.