Biltmore Gate House Shop — Attraction in Biltmore Forest

As a child and teenager I visited my grandparents in Asheville, North Carolina. I met the Biltmore estate owner in the mid-1960s, William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil, since he was a friend of my grandfather and they both had offices in Biltmore Village.

From Biltmore Village you enter the vast estate through the tall gated archway flanked by the impressive three-storey gate house. Then you drive along the 3-mile long winding driveway past mature trees and shrubs until finally the immense Biltmore chateau comes into view across an vast formal garden.

I love this place which remains the most impressive (and largest) private home in America. It exudes an Old World atmosphere and personifies the Gilded Age, as you would expect.

Biltmore, a four-storey French Renaissance chateau with two sub-basements, is filled with antique furniture, rare paintings, fountains, statuary and tapestries. There are 250 rooms, and my favorites are the Dining Hall with a 70-foot tall ceiling and triple fireplace, the Palm Court and the Grand Stair Hall with a 120-foot freestanding chandelier.

It's hard to imagine living in such a remarkable home, enjoying muti-course meals with family and friends in a dining room whose ceiling soared 70 feet, served by uniformed waiters, footmen and wine stewards. The very rich are very different indeed, as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in his novel The...

When I was a teenager from 1973 to 1975 me and my family lived on the builtmore estate. I was 12 or 13 years old when we lived there my dad worked there as Milker in one of the milking stations. We lived in one of the homes for the employees our rent then was $15.00 a week and our power and water was free. That was a great experience for me. My aunt and uncle also lived there and my uncle also worked as a milker at the same milking station that my dad worked at. We had vestibule gardens and we raised hogs for meat we got all the milk we wanted for free. My uncles son also lived there and he was old enough to hunt deer and he would have them slaughtered and would share the me with my family so we had plenty to eat. Wow what a...

A well kept historical place! Every inch of the Mansion were worth exploring. We loved the place and enjoyed the manicured garden specifically. A Chihuly exhibit was in full display in parts of the garden during our visit which added to the drama and spectacle to the already grandiose grounds of the estate. Not far from the mansion is the winery with free wine tasting. Although the entrance fee is somewhat pricey,would love to go back for...