biltmore

While in North Carolina, we went to see the Biltmore house, built and occupied by several generations of Vanderbilts, and now a najor tourist attraction in the area. The house is humongous, a castle, really. There is a sweeping circular staircase that rises four floors (or was it five?) THere were numerous bedrooms, each spacious enough to have its own Christmas tree. There was a banquet hall with three fireplaces, each large enough to stand in. That room had a two story Christmas tree in it, with gift boxes as part of the ornamentation. They were the right scale. It was an amazing house to see, and imagine living and/or working there. They had several of the staff bedrooms on display as well as pantries and kitchen areas.

They don't want you to take pictures inside, though, so I didn't. They also do a portrait which they sell. One outside by the front door, and one inside. Both came out well, but I Ron's mom has them, and I doubt they would be happy if I posted them anyway. So I took some outside, on the main lawn, which was snow covered and picture pretty. Ron wanted some pictures of trees, too, so I took a few with the snow in them.

I don't know what it cost to get it, but it was beautiful. The grounds are lovely in the winter, and I'm sure they are only better in the summer. You can walk through them on paths, and I'm sure that would be an outing in itself.