"The Vanderbilts have asked me out to tea"

26th July 2013

Ever since arriving in North Carolina people have been telling me “You must visit the Biltmore Estate”. I had heard of it before we arrived as I’d read about it in a guide book and some friends from the UK (who now live in Florida) had also mentioned it as a relative of theirs used to work as a gardener on the estate in the 1920s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltmore_Estate

Someone at church suggested it would be a good place to take Anne and suggested I booked a room at the Biltmore Inn on the estate. (For Inn read hotel.) As much as I love my wife rooms at $500 are beyond my budget. So with the help of a friend at church who has a season ticket for the Biltmore I booked a package deal of a hotel and admission to the estate.

Having looked up the Biltmore on the internet I thought it would be good. But having visited the likes of Blenheim Palace, Windsor Castle, Neuschwanstein in Bavaria and the Chateaux of the Loire in France, I thought Biltmore would be a Disneyesque fantasy. Well yes it is a copy of European stately homes but it was excellent.

The façade looks like a French chateau but on entry the Biltmore comes in to its own. Instead of the expected grand entrance hall, there is an open space which is in fact a winter garden.

I am not going to go through it room by room. But suffice it to say I’m not aware of Blenheim Palace having a swimming pool, gym and bowling alley in the basement!

What was special were the spectacular views from the rear of the house. The terrace (“loggia”) was open and to look across acres and acres of woodland towards the Smokey Mountains in the distance was awe inspiring. (The woodlands had been planted on the instruction of Vanderbilt’s landscaper as a way of covering various small farms!)

We enjoyed a walk around the gardens and were thrilled to see a humming bird and some beautiful butterflies.

The only jarring note is that the road leading guests from the estate goes around the garden. So the tranquillity was broken by Harley Davidsons! (Biltmore you need to sort that out in my opinion.)

I’ve spoken many times in the blogs over the last few weeks about how generous people are. Just before we left for the Biltmore the friend who helped me with the booking gave us an envelope. When we opened it we found it contained $50 dollars and a note to say that we should go and have a nice meal together. Taking out friend at her word we booked a table the Bistro at the Biltmore winery where we had an excellent meal.

A lovely child - free break!