I Woulda Been Happy in the Stable:)
Jan. 15th, 2005 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrdreamjeansI would have been happy living in the stables, that is the stables of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Prior to returning to Texas for my four-week layoff from “Evita”, I decided to spend an extra day in Greenville in order to get an affordable, more direct flight home. I then thought, why not do something fun with that Monday, so I rented a car for the day (cheaper than taxis to the airport) and made a trip to see something I’ve always wanted to see.
The Cecil family, direct descendants of George Washington Vanderbilt, the builder, still owns the 255-room French Chateau. It’s an imposing structure, lovingly restored to its 1895 grandeur. It was $39 to tour the home, grounds, winery and horse farm, but well worth the money and 180-mile drive I made to see it. I only wish I had allowed more time, so that I could have viewed it at leisure, rather than having to move quickly through the estate in just an afternoon.
It’s rare to see a private home built on the scale of one of the European castles, but the Biltmore Estate qualifies as a true American monument. It’s an eight-minute walk from the parking lot through a brief stretch of forest and suddenly you’re viewing an elegant half-mile circular drive with gilded entrance gates and a breath-taking view of the grand home against a backdrop of mountains and abundant sky. I stopped for pictures, trading shots with a Japanese tourist. I took one of he and his son and he took one of me in my turkey shirt:)
Once indoors, you can take an audio tour (additional fee) or take a self-guided walking tour at your own pace. There are docents/security throughout the building who willingly will answer questions. One of my questions seemed to stump one of the guides. I asked, “Do you think they were happy here?” I’ve been around long enough to know that money doesn’t equal happiness.
The tour of the home consists of viewing most of the immense public rooms on the main floor, select rooms on the second and third floors, (mostly beautifully decorated bedrooms) and the basement of the home consisting of servants’ quarters, the kitchens and pantry (bigger than most homes), laundry rooms, an entire room dedicated to flower arrangements (there are hundreds of elaborate baskets and vases), a two-lane bowling alley, tiled indoor swimming pool and a gymnasium compete with showers. There were dozens of bathrooms each with their own six-foot claw-foot tub.
The public rooms include an elaborate music room, a ballroom with a gigantic pipe organ and 14 mounted heads of moose and elk. (My brother would have been happy... a “dead animals room” to rival his own:). One entire wing of the house contains a 10 thousand-volume library with a circular staircase up to a balcony that wraps around the room for easy access to the second level of volumes.
To your left, when you exit the main house is what used to be the stable complex. The stables and the courtyard are currently being used for several gift shops, a bakery and a cafe. The booths in the Stable Cafe are the old iron-trimmed stalls; and when you look up in the restaurant, you can see straight up into the hay loft and beyond into a hollow tower. Offices for the staff on the second floor of the stable were formerly the rooms for the single male servants. I would indeed have been most comfortable living in the stables. The building has simple clean lines, is comfortable, well-layed out and without the fuss and ostentation of the Biltmore House.
After taking photos of the formal gardens designed by Frederick Turner Olmstead, I trekked back to the car and headed to the Biltmore Winery, three miles away. The Winery was created in 1985 from the buildings formerly housing the Vanderbilt’s prize-winning dairy. The stone cellar is now filled with aging bottles of the the estate’s wines and champagne. They offer free tastings, but I skipped that part till I return at a later date with friends who imbibe:)
I left Biltmore Estate with a firm appreciation for the commitment and hard work of the caretakers and staff. I felt at peace as I exited the grounds which consist of miles of open fields filled with streams, picturesque old stone farm buildings, cattle and horses grazing. The Vanderbilts owned several thousand acres and it has been put to good use through two subsequent generations. The Cecil family should be lauded for preserving their magnificent legacy and sharing it with others. The lovingly restored home spoke to me. It assured me that the folks who created it and lived in it were happy. I woulda been happy too.... in the stable:)
The Cecil family, direct descendants of George Washington Vanderbilt, the builder, still owns the 255-room French Chateau. It’s an imposing structure, lovingly restored to its 1895 grandeur. It was $39 to tour the home, grounds, winery and horse farm, but well worth the money and 180-mile drive I made to see it. I only wish I had allowed more time, so that I could have viewed it at leisure, rather than having to move quickly through the estate in just an afternoon.
It’s rare to see a private home built on the scale of one of the European castles, but the Biltmore Estate qualifies as a true American monument. It’s an eight-minute walk from the parking lot through a brief stretch of forest and suddenly you’re viewing an elegant half-mile circular drive with gilded entrance gates and a breath-taking view of the grand home against a backdrop of mountains and abundant sky. I stopped for pictures, trading shots with a Japanese tourist. I took one of he and his son and he took one of me in my turkey shirt:)
Once indoors, you can take an audio tour (additional fee) or take a self-guided walking tour at your own pace. There are docents/security throughout the building who willingly will answer questions. One of my questions seemed to stump one of the guides. I asked, “Do you think they were happy here?” I’ve been around long enough to know that money doesn’t equal happiness.
The tour of the home consists of viewing most of the immense public rooms on the main floor, select rooms on the second and third floors, (mostly beautifully decorated bedrooms) and the basement of the home consisting of servants’ quarters, the kitchens and pantry (bigger than most homes), laundry rooms, an entire room dedicated to flower arrangements (there are hundreds of elaborate baskets and vases), a two-lane bowling alley, tiled indoor swimming pool and a gymnasium compete with showers. There were dozens of bathrooms each with their own six-foot claw-foot tub.
The public rooms include an elaborate music room, a ballroom with a gigantic pipe organ and 14 mounted heads of moose and elk. (My brother would have been happy... a “dead animals room” to rival his own:). One entire wing of the house contains a 10 thousand-volume library with a circular staircase up to a balcony that wraps around the room for easy access to the second level of volumes.
To your left, when you exit the main house is what used to be the stable complex. The stables and the courtyard are currently being used for several gift shops, a bakery and a cafe. The booths in the Stable Cafe are the old iron-trimmed stalls; and when you look up in the restaurant, you can see straight up into the hay loft and beyond into a hollow tower. Offices for the staff on the second floor of the stable were formerly the rooms for the single male servants. I would indeed have been most comfortable living in the stables. The building has simple clean lines, is comfortable, well-layed out and without the fuss and ostentation of the Biltmore House.
After taking photos of the formal gardens designed by Frederick Turner Olmstead, I trekked back to the car and headed to the Biltmore Winery, three miles away. The Winery was created in 1985 from the buildings formerly housing the Vanderbilt’s prize-winning dairy. The stone cellar is now filled with aging bottles of the the estate’s wines and champagne. They offer free tastings, but I skipped that part till I return at a later date with friends who imbibe:)
I left Biltmore Estate with a firm appreciation for the commitment and hard work of the caretakers and staff. I felt at peace as I exited the grounds which consist of miles of open fields filled with streams, picturesque old stone farm buildings, cattle and horses grazing. The Vanderbilts owned several thousand acres and it has been put to good use through two subsequent generations. The Cecil family should be lauded for preserving their magnificent legacy and sharing it with others. The lovingly restored home spoke to me. It assured me that the folks who created it and lived in it were happy. I woulda been happy too.... in the stable:)
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