On the right side of the screen is an ad for Biltmore. Looks like an interesting place to see. Anyone been there ?

yes

lots of old school architecture.

lots of examples of money making life convenient before the age of electricity.

Nice gardens.

tourist trap gift shop

nice wine.


If you're a crow hunter, you will go into some sort of reaction driving to the place.

is it worth the time and $ to go see ?

see above.

I edited my first post

Yep. If you go check out the side tours they do. One we went on dealt with the architecture. We ended up in attic areas, on the upper roof dormers, in the basement areas, etc. Also there is a tour of the service areas; kitchen, laundry, servants qtrs, etc. Been there a couple of times and enjoyed it all. A great time to go is in November when it's decorated for Christmas. Very impressive.

If you have the opportunity, you should see it.

Been twice, I think, and had fun. I'm kindof an architecture/history geek, and it fits well with that. The grounds and gardens are pretty, too.

The comment above about seeing how things were done in the past - the state of the art a few generations ago - is one of things that I think's especially interesting.

There are some other things around Asheville that can be fun, too, if you're doing a getaway weekend. Chimney Rock, etc.

UNC asheville frequently has topless protests during the summer.

Most of the time it has some humor value to it.

If you don't mind armpit hair.

Yes I have been, and it is worth the time & cost to see the place. It has been used in a couple of movies. I'd suggest going in the spring, when the extensive gardens are blooming.

And FWIW if you're on the west coast, go see Hearst Castle as well. Very different style of home but also worth the time & cost to see it.

and I meant Biltmore, not the topless protests

riiiiiiggggggghhhhhtttttt..

i am a builder and i thought it was amazing. what surprised me was i got wrapped up in the lives of the people who lived there. amazing place to grow up.

well worth the time and $

ked.

I never wanted to go thinking it's just not my thing. I had a great time and really enjoyed it. Get the headphones for walking around. You will get a lot more info about the place that way. Wait till you see the "den". I spotted a mannlicher schoenauer in the gun cabinet. The library is fantastic. I really liked the servants areas and the kitchen downstairs. The built in pool was pretty amazing as was the gym.

My family and I stayed in a cabin not too far from there at a very reasonable rate and even did a horseback ride near there. Lots of deer on the property too.

Go during the Christmas holidays. It is decorated for the seasons.

When are the topless ones there?

Yes, go!

Really neat place and worth the time and money. Wife and I really enjoyed it.

It's been a few decades, but our visit there is still one of our better - and best remembered - vacations. We also had a vacation cabin nearby and during our two-week stay, we went to the Biltmore, Cherokee Village, Smoky Mountain Park, Asheville itself, and several more.

I'll second the suggestion to visit Biltmore when things are blooming. The gardens and grounds are jaw-dropping. After you've been there, you'll truly understand what the phrase "old money" meant.

Yes, worth the cost of admission. Pretty darn interesting and quite unbelievable the money that was at the disposal of the barons of the late 19th Century. It is quite hard to believe that a building of this scale was built as a private residence, and a secondary one at that.

I had a great, great grandfather I never knew that worked as a stone mason during its construction, or so my grandmother once told me. Unfortunately I have no other details and she is now gone.

<shrug> I saw a couple of the topless ones on Lake Norman. They were, of course, chicks hoping to catch race car drivers.

But the Biltmore crowd is a touch more conservative

I do recall a curvy blond in Asheville, who might have kept me in the state had she not kept playing hard to get.

Headphones are a necessity. No doubt about it. And the mannlicher? Wow. I leaned as far as I could across the Dutch door into the den and slobbered all over the floor. That gun cabinet was something.

Something else I learned in a side tour concerned the electrical wiring. At the time of construction it was not yet determined whether AC or DC would be adopted as standard in the industry. That being the case the mansion was wired for both. When you consider the enormity of the structure, the number of rooms involved and the state of the industry at the time that was quite a decision to make. Another tidbit of information concerned the bathroom plumbing. They had early flush toilets but not plumbed sinks. Seems it was only proper for servants to bring fresh water to the occupant for washing. Aristocratic don't you know.

If you have a canoe go in the summer, you can put in on the French Broad River at Bent Creek and paddle right on through, for free.

Well you need to bring a sammich, they won't feed you, but Ingles is way cheaper than the carriage house food.

Place is pretty awesome and to anyone who digs architecture and/or history it's worth going, at least once.

BTDT, the winery tour too, I skipped the flower gardens, the ice cream was good there too (biltmore dairy). Then I did 6 mile paddle trip the french broad river the next day.

it's a go if you're in the area

Wife drug me there a couple of years ago and I actually ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Asheville is a pretty place and has a chitload of good restaurants in every price range. The restaurant at the Farmer's Market is great for lunch.
John

Great place to visit and even after quite a few tours of Biltmore there is still much more to know. Asheville is a great place to visit with excellent fly fishing in the area.

Cool place, was there in 2013

It is interesting to see what was built, in the time it was built, and with the technology at the time.
Take the behind the scenes tour (extra) and see the inner workings of the place
Beautiful country and lots of other things in the area.

Biltmore is fantastic. Do NOT arrive mid-afternoon because that won't give you enough time. Seriously, make sure you're there in the morning and plan on taking or buying lunch there.

The wine is not great, regardless of what RWE thinks. But it's fun to take the wine tour.

The Biltmore House is well worth the time to visit. I've been a couple of times and would go back in a second. I haven't been able to get a look into what one of the guides called the gun room yet. Supposedly it is off the great dining room and was a room the gents retired to after dinner for smokes and drinks. I'm not sure about that but that was the story I was told. If it is anything like the rest of the house, it will be awesome.

Asheville, NC is noted for its craft breweries too. There are 21 different craft breweries in the Asheville area. If you like good beer, you can find it in Asheville and timing the visit to the Biltmore with their Annual Craft Beer Week might be worth looking into.

All this. Well worth the time and if you do the extra tours it will take all day at the house.

We stayed here http://www.bohemianhotelasheville.com and would do it again.

Family has lots of mountain property 5 minutes from Biltmore. Been in the tree for well over 220 years. All my kin before me were raised in the area mountains and grew up on the grounds of the estate and the town of Biltmore. My Grandfather ran the downtown Army-Navy Store so deep roots and great memories.

Having said the above, I highly recommend the trip. Should you decide to go I can send you a list of things to see and do. 60 miles down the road is Greenville, which is also a great little town to visit.

FWIW the highest point on the East Coast is about 45 minutes from Asheville. Big mountains!!
David

Bull to the Shiit! Ain't no way your tightass dropped the coin to do any of the above mentioned things. You eat Baloney and frozen pizzas on vacation.

This. It's simply incredible to see and the Christmas decorations are over the top.

A BIG YES!! They do a special Christmas package. Anytime is a good time...Christmas is very nice. I've been 5 times. I'm about ready to go again. The estate is in continual renovation. Every several years new wings or rooms are opened up. The fireplace is awesome. The library is extensive...rivaling college libraries. I think the gentleman had and read volumes in 9 different languages. If you go, take one of the guided back-stage tours. They will point out lots of interesting facts and details in the structure that one would never have noticed the significance.

Did I say It is a great visit?

Biltmore is nice, been there several times,,,,, side tour of the roof is good, winery is good,,, just roaming the grounds is good
you need a couple of days to really soak it in

I agree about the roof tour. Can you imagine what that placed must have looked like when first finished with its sandstone white walls, royal blue slate rood, and gold plated trim?

I was there in the early 1950's and it was impressive. I remember the huge pipe organ they had. I also seem to remember it was a working farm at the time and they made ice-cream that was delicious, but any teenager would like fresh ice cream. I can't imagine what kind of tourist enterprise it is today.

My wife and I went last October.
It was really interesting.
I too was drooling at the glimpse into the gun room.
What I picked up on was that what's there now is only a token amount of the firearms that were there in it's heyday!
Next time I'll want to take one of the more 'in depth' tours.

Not just that, but can you also imagine standing on the deck and knowing that when you looked in any direction you owned all the land you saw. IIRC over 125k acres early on. Eventually most of it got sold off, what remains is a small fraction of the original estate.

In 1914, Edith Vanderbilt sold approximately 86,700 acres of the estate’s forested mountain land, known as Pisgah Forest, to the federal government, creating the Pisgah National Forest.

If you have time to spend a few days travel the Blue Ridgefrom Blowing Rock to Cherokee western NC is a beautiful place.

The architecture tour takes you to the roof and it is great. The guide pointed out an antenna a far mountain and told us that not only did he own everything you can see but that antenna was where his hunting lodge was. I can't imagine.

Much of what they had was sold to the federal gov't for the Blue Ridge Park but it was a "sell us this for pennies or we'll tax you to death" situation.

We went the Saturday after Thanksgiving when the decorations are up and it's stunning but be advised that is the busiest day of the year. Get over there early and sign up for any additional tours early as they fill up.

Nope nothing to see at Biltmore. Asheville, nope nothing to see here either. Move along please.

Could you post the dates and are there any finger painting activities?

Biltmore is especially incredible during the Christmas season. The whole estate is top notch.

I've stayed in some nice joints, but, the inn at Biltmore is top of the list. Ties with the Ritz at Amalia island.
If you go, stay at the inn.
Have a ball. My favorite time is spring when the whole place is in bloom.

Must pitch staying at the Grove Park Inn. Beautiful view, and you expect to see Hope and Crosby walk across the lobby at any time.

For you wine people, Biltmore Cabernet won a double gold medal in the San Francisco Chronical annual wine competition this year and it's under $30 bucks. Grapes are all Napa sourced.

I said "nice" not "great"


Nice means "I just spent 5 hours humping half this building and it sure would be nice to have a drink of something that isn't tap water."

When compared to all the tobacco fund subsidized winerys starting in the state, that I find myself asked to try, its nicer than most, by a long shot...

I like my wine like my humor.


Hard & dry.

Better then most of the wine produced in NC that is for sure. Great place to visit, unbelievable architecture and workmanship. Man that built the estate was a true visionary which sadly are in short supply these days.

Going to take my wife there in a few weeks she has never been.

Went there this last Sept.. When I saw $60+ for tix I got back on the bike and rode off...

You do know that is the worse way to purchase tickets...to just about anything right? Purchasing in advance or as a package (lodging and tickets) will save you money.

We purchased our tickets way ahead of time , had they been 60 per head the visit might have been cancelled.