December 18, 2005

Christmas at the Biltmore

We're still playing catch-up after our trip to North Carolina and Tennessee this week. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we were in Asheville, North Carolina at the Biltmore, America's largest private home and, we must say, one of the prettiest places to visit to view Christmas decorations. Just about every room of the four stories we visited on the public tour were decked out in Christmas finery, from trees to garlands to historic decorations.

We toured the house, arriving early to try to beat the crowds (although during this season, that's a tough thing to accomplish!)

Tours are self-guided so we were able to linger longer in some rooms (including our favorite, the dining room, which boasted a spectacular tree at least two stories tall, all to the backdrop of Christmas carols played by a massive organ.)

We'd visited the Biltmore previously in the summer of 2001 but were surprised to see many new features open to the public this visit. One of the newest is the opening of the fourth floor rooms, a change that just occurred this summer. Visitors now get a peek into the lives of the servants who ran this massive house for the Vanderbilt family; they resided on this top floor.

After our tour, we headed out to the former stable, now an elegant eatery (see left), for a meal of North Carolina barbecue. After some shopping in the adjacent stores, we were off exploring the property again, heading off to see the Biltmore Estate Winery, Inn on Biltmore Estate, and two areas we hadn't visited before: the Farm Village and Deerpark.

Farm Village, in walking distance of the winery, opened in the spring of 2004 to introduce visitors to the agricultural heritage of the region. The restored historic structure includes a blacksmith, farm equipment, and, on the day we visited, a bluegrass band.

The Deerpark area is another new addition to the estate and one we wanted to explore because of its destination weddings. Lioncrest, a renovated historic building, is the newest wedding site on the property. We'll be covering it in detail in upcoming articles.

What's our favorite memory of the Biltmore? A simple holiday one. After our lunch, we popped in the gift shop and bought a CD featuring recordings of the many musicians who have performed at Biltmore Christmas celebrations. As we drove through the miles and miles of wooded estate, we played the holiday CD in our rental car, enjoying our look at the North Carolina countryside as just a few flakes of snow started to make their way to the ground.

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