Senior Moments

Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina. November 23, 2010.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

Betsy and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, last month to see the Christmas display at Biltmore House.  Biltmore, which was built from 1889 to 1895 by George Vanderbilt, has been called America’s Largest Home.  It was modeled on three châteaux built in 16th-century France and has 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces.  The basement contains a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, a bowling alley, servants’ quarters, and kitchens.

The grounds of the 125,000-acre estate were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who created New York’s Central Park.  He not only developed acres of gardens and parkland, but in his efforts to protect the environment and reclaim over-farmed land, Olmsted established America’s first managed forest.

The estate contains ‘only’ 8,000 acres today.  Much of the estate’s forested mountain land (86, 700 acres) was sold to the federal government in 1914 to form the basis for Pisgah National Forest.

The view from the South Terrace of Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina. November 23, 2010.

Even though the estate is much smaller than it was a hundred years ago, the house is in a beautiful setting as the top picture shows.  The view from the South Terrace of the house is still spectacular, as can be seen in this second photo.