We had talked about visiting the Biltmore estate and Asheville since I moved up in October - Asheville sounded like a college town, reminiscient of the Northeast and UMass where I went to school. As soon as we got far enough west to see the mountains, it started to feel like the northeast a bit, and the ride from Georgetown out to Amherst. Seeing the massive expanse of trees and wilderness...it felt great.

The Biltmore Estate was designed and financed by George Washington Vanderbilt II, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, everyone's favorite 19th-century, cousin-marrying Robber Baron. Cornelius has a whole dozen children with his cousin, the fourth of which, William Henry Vanderbilt, expanded upon the family business, created even more wealth, and actually gave something back to the community, to the YMCA, Opera, and several colleges. He died and left most of his wealth to his two sons, one of which was little George, the youngest of 8.

George was shy, introverted - the pale nerdy-type. Raised by the richest family in the world, (and not distracted by the business affairs, since his older brothers looked after them) he was able to spend all his time studying - reading up on art, philosophy, ancient cultures, learning 8 foreign languages, and amassing a collection of books, furniture, and artwork worth more than the GDP of many countries (probably). The culmination of all this, 3 years after his father's passing, was to build the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the entire United States. It was modelled after some expansive French estates, and has entire guest bedrooms fashioned after particular designers or emperors or time periods.

The house is a masterpiece, from the unbelievable amount of time and effort and planning and mathematics that went into its construction, to the pure determination and mastery of their craft that the designers had, to the individual care on every piece of wallpaper, every design and piece of cloth and choice of furniture...the entire time, I was torn between marveling at the house as a work of art, and hating it as the most ostentatious symbol of American opulence ever created. the first Vanderbilt, for all his scheming and cutthroating and cousin-humping, at least lived relatively modestly in Staten Island. Only a step or two down the family tree does the desire for social recognition and the display of wealth come heavily into play. George died in 1914 during an appendectomy, after enjoying his massive castle for almost 20 years. Due to his poor choices of investment and the drain on his inheritence, parts of the house were never completed.

Below are some pictures of the outside of the actual Biltmore estate, the trees and conservatory surrounding it, and the view from the rear of the house. Breathtaking. We also visited the winery for a quick wine tasting and to sample some food.