New construction home in Biltmore Forest. Romantic, European style luxury home with interior design by ACM Design, architecture by ACM Design.
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Asheville, North Carolina, has long drawn creatives seeking a connection to nature. Garden Party in West Asheville is one of the quirky Appalachian city’s most inspiring stops. Photo 1 of 12 in A Design Lover’s Guide to Asheville, North Carolina. Browse inspirational photos of modern homes.
Tips for visiting the Biltmore Estate & Gardens: Biltmore House tours, Antler Village and winery places to stay in Biltmore Estate Asheville North Carolina
If you caught my Instagram stories this past week then you might have seen that I took a special trip to celebrate my birthday in Asheville, North Carolina! Why Asheville? I came across a picture
Built between 1889 and 1895, this grand and massive Chateauesque-style mansion was designed by Richard Morris Hunt for George Washington Vanderbilt II and his wife, Edith Vanderbilt, whom had decided that Asheville would be an ideal place to build a French-style self-sufficient country estate. The house is the largest private residence in the United States, with a 178,926 square foot (16,622.8 square meter) interior floor space. The house was named for De Bilt, the place where the Vanderbilt family came from in the Netherlands, and originally sat at the center of a 125,000 acre (195 square mile or 510 square kilometer) estate, which included Mount Pisgah, much of the present Pisgah National Forest Biltmore Village, and the upscale Asheville suburbs of Biltmore Forest and Biltmore Park, much of which has been parceled off and sold to help assist with keeping the estate running, with 86,700 acres of reforested land surrounding Mount Pisgah being sold to the United States government in 1915. Prior to becoming part of the estate, the land, which straddles the French Broad River, was home to small farms, and was in very poor condition, with Frederick Law Olmsted designing the landscape of the estate, reforesting large areas and creating a park-like setting with natural and artificial landscaped areas surrounding the house. Part of the estate included Biltmore Village, formerly a small railroad town known as Best, which was redesigned to resemble a rural French medieval village, with a fan-shaped street grid centering around the Episcopal Cathedral of All Souls, which was attended regularly by the Vanderbilt family. The village also features Norman-style cottages, various shops, a train station, a hospital, and a school for the families of workers at the estate, with many of the buildings being designed by Richard Sharp Smith, who took over as lead architect following the death of Richard Morris Hunt. Today featuring many shops, restaurants, and tourist accommodations, Biltmore Village has since been annexed by the city of Asheville. The portion of the estate bordering Biltmore Village features an iconic gatehouse, which melds the cottage-like materials of the village with the more imposing design language of the mansion inside the estate. Between the gatehouse and the mansion, a 3-mile-long (5 kilometer long) driveway known as the Approach Road winds its way through carefully cultivated landscapes, as well as crossing under Interstate 40. The grounds around the estate include a walled garden with rusticate granite walls, a large rose garden, gardener’s cottage, and a conservatory featuring various tropical plants that would not naturally grow in the local climate. Closer to the house, the large South Terrace enclosed by a rusticated retaining wall stands immediately south of the house, with a gazebo at the southwest corner of the terrace. East of the terrace is the Italian Garden, which features a formal layout, fountains, and Italian-style sculptures, with a more natural Shrub Garden and vine-covered arbor south of the Italian Garden. In front of the house is a large lawn, which runs east to the Esplanade, a stone wall with a series of stairs and ramps that switchback to an upper lawn, with a decorative series of six stone fountains embedded into the base of the wall, and a small belvedere with a Statue of Diana at the upper end of the lawn. West of the house is a grassy knoll, which leaves the views from the house of the surrounding mountains unobstructed. Finally, below the Walled Garden, an enlarged former mill pond, which predated the estate by many decades, is now known as the Biltmore Bass Pond, and has been stocked with fish, and features a boathouse, with a dam and waterfall at the lower end of the pond along the exit road from the house. The Biltmore House features elements from various historic French Chateaux, including the stair tower and hipped roofs of the Chateau Royal de Blois, as well as various elements from the Chateau de Chenonceau, Chateau de Chambord, also in France, and Waddesdon Manor in England. The house features a facade clad in Indiana Limestone, with lots of Gothic details, leaded glass windows, casement windows, and double-hung windows, towers with steeply pitched hipped slate roofs and decorative copper cresting, ornate wall dormers, an elevator tower at one side of the staircase, a large conservatory known as the Winter Garden next to the front entrance tower, which features an octagonal glass roof with an wooden Gothic support structure, a loggia on the west side of the house with sweeping views of the Pisgah National Forest in the distance, and a stable wing on the north end of the house, with a porte cochere tower entrance to the stable courtyard, stone chimneys, and a loggia on the south side of the house. The smooth limestone exterior of the house is contrasted by the house’s rusticated granite base, quarried on the grounds of the house, which also was utilized in the massive retaining wall around the adjacent South Terrace. Inside, the house features luxurious finishes, including carved woodwork, intricate plaster details, electric lighting and steam heat, multiple fireplaces, a large kitchen and laundry in the basement, many guest rooms, a massive four-story chandelier in the grand staircase, a basement swimming pool, bowling alley, and gymnasium, a large grand banquet hall, bedrooms for staff, and a two-story library. The house features antiques and decorations sourced from the Vanderbilts’ many international excursions and antique dealers, as well as lots of art. The house was opened for public tours in 1930, which has, over time, expanded in scale to feature more areas of the house and estate. The house was utilized to store 62 paintings and 17 sculptures from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC 1942, with Asheville believed to be a safe haven for them in the event that the United States was invaded by a foreign military, with the house remaining the repository for these important works until 1944, when the tides of war had turned. Biltmore Estate was designated as a National Historic Landmark 1963, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, owing to the house’s significant size, intact detailing, and connections to notable individuals. Still owned by the Cecil family, the descendants of Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, George and Edith Vanderbilt’s only child, the house is today utilized as a museum and open to tours, with the 8,000 remaining acres comprising the modern grounds of the estate having been developed with tourist amenities, including the conversion of the estate’s various barns into museums, restaurants, and a winery, as well as the construction of a luxury hotel, shops, and additional support facilities. The estate today is a major tourist attraction, seeing nearly 2 million visitors every year.
The most stunning spots for your big day.
Today was the last day to use the free passes that came with my yearly passholder privileges at the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. Wouldn't you know it, it started raining and storming and we missed getting to take a lot of pictures outdoors. I did manage to snap this one (actually three shots woven together with Photomatix HDR software) while waiting for the shuttle. Believe me, it was POURING but I think the shot was worth it, it looks so medieval in this lighting. The celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three châteaux built in 16th-century France. It would feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more. The celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three châteaux built in 16th-century France. It would feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more.
This hilltop residence, located at the edge of a wooded knoll in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has expansive southern and western views. Approaching through the woods, one arrives at a one-story facade of corten steel framed by wood. A hint of the views is provided through the glass door, but it is... Read more »
This beautiful European-inspired home was designed by ACM Design located in The Ramble community, in the heart of Asheville, North Carolina.
I LOVE books! Not even necessarily to read (though I love to do that too), I just like to see a lot of them together, in a library or bookstore, for instance. Every time I go on vacation, I try to …
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The enormous 250-room Vanderbilt mansion conceals hidden doors and secret passageways.
Discover 10 fun and interesting ways to enjoy Biltmore Estate, located on 8,000 stunning acres in the mountains of North Carolina.
Biltmore House Asheville, North Carolina the entryway to Biltmore Biltmore House is a commercial enterprise that welcomes more than 1 million visitors a year. this is the 1st glimse one sees of the amazingly spectacular Vanderbilt mansion set in the hills of North Carolina I had driven myself from Winston-Salem, where I was working on a design project, through the rolling hills in this beautiful state. Through the Smokey Mountains, and into a large parking area completely surrounded by forests. Walking toward the house, the surrounding landscape hinted of vast forests and distant rivers — 8,000 acres in all. I rounded a corner, and this vast estate came into view. It was like looking at the Grand Canyon for the 1st time. Your breath is completely taken away by the sheer size of the "house." The estate includes River Bend Farm with an assortment of goats, chickens, and horses roaming freely in the barnyard; an award-winning winery; a deer park; a river for rafting; winding drives; and the 213-room four-star Inn on Biltmore Estate. As a young man of 25, Vanderbilt chose this locale in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina, following a visit with his mother. His original purchase was 125,000 acres, a parcel three times the size of the District of Columbia. The mansion took him some six years to build. Aerial View of the Estate At the entrance to the property lies a Tudor village, built to house the workers who constructed Biltmore House. Today Biltmore Village is a trendy district offering chic boutiques, sidewalk cafes, and antique shops. With approximately four acres of floor space or roughly 174,240 square feet, Biltmore House of Biltmore Estate is the largest house in America. This magnificent French Renaissance chateau contains 250 rooms complete with 65 fireplaces, 34 bedrooms, an indoor pool, a bowling alley and more. The house itself opened to the public for the first time in 1930. Today, 1,800 employees attend to the estate’s upkeep. As we strolled toward the house, I took in its magnificent stone architecture, a French Renaissance chateau design by Richard Morris Hunt. Topped with hunched gargoyles and a steeply pitched roof, it looks as impressive now as it did in movies such as The Swan with Grace Kelly and Being There with Peter Sellers. Biltmore House has six levels: four floors plus a basement and sub-basement. you can notice the size of the guests to the size of the front doors to gain perspective to the size of this wondrous monument Docents hand out earphones for an audio tour hosted by Bill Cecil, Vanderbilt’s great-grandson. The family still owns the property, with Cecil serving as president and CEO. Filling the rooms are priceless treasures including paintings by some of the world's most highly esteemed artists such as Renoir, Sargent and Whistler. In the salon, a gaming table and chess set, once owned by Napoleon, are displayed and Ming Dynasty goldfish bowls grace the 10,000 volume library. Covering the marble and oak flooring are 50 exquisite Persian and Oriental rugs, while fine 16th-century tapestries adorn the walls Just off of the Entrance Hall, the tour begins in the Winter Garden Room, a glass-ceiling solarium. at Christmastime it is festooned with lights. During Christmastime ballroom dancers in period costumes twirl around the circular room, a festive touch for the season. At Christmastime you will encounter the pièce de résistance, a 35-foot Christmas tree that lords over the room, pointing toward the seven-story-tall ceiling, next to the twin chandeliers and a magnificent pipe organ that is playing carols. Each November, two big Clydesdale horses pull an enormous Fraser fir to the house, taking it into the Entrance Hall and around the Winter Garden, past carved friezes of Greeks on horseback, before squeezing into the portal to the Banquet Hall. The massive stone pillars here bear the scrapings of branches being pulled through year after year. Banquet Hall which is 70' High X 72' X 40' & will seat up to 64 guests Making our way to the vast Banquet Hall, at Cristmas you will encounter the pièce de résistance, a 35-foot Christmas tree that lords over the room, pointing toward the seven-story-tall ceiling, next to the twin chandeliers and a magnificent pipe organ that is playing carols. Each November, two big Clydesdale horses pull an enormous Fraser fir to the house, taking it into the Entrance Hall and around the Winter Garden, past carved friezes of Greeks on horseback, before squeezing into the portal to the Banquet Hall. The massive stone pillars here bear the scrapings of branches being pulled through year after year. From here we explore a Tapestry Room and book-lined Library, decorated with treasures from around the world, including Napoleon’s personal chess set, just in front of the giant stone fireplace. More than 10,000 volumes in eight languages attest to a contemporary newspaper’s claim that Vanderbilt was “the best read man in the country.” Filling the rooms are priceless treasures including paintings by some of the world's most highly esteemed artists such as Renoir, Sargent and Whistler. In the salon, a gaming table and chess set, once owned by Napoleon, are displayed and Ming Dynasty goldfish bowls grace the 10,000 volume library. Covering the marble and oak flooring are 50 exquisite Persian and Oriental rugs, while fine 16th-century tapestries adorn the walls. Mr. George Vanderbilt's Bedroo Upstairs visitors will find 33 bedrooms, sitting rooms, and guest quarters, as well as four never-before-seen rooms to explore. In a newly opened Louis XV Suite. formal gardens looking back to the house balustrade looking to the countryside of Biltmore Estate Portrait of Mrs. George Vanderbilt, Edith painted by John Singer Sargent still hangs at Biltmore House Stable House is one of the 5 restaurants on the property. As the name suggests, this one occupies the old stable building. Its surroundings have been transformed into a shopping experience offering an array of small stores. The Carriage House Shop features teapots and lamps and jewelry and Biltmore-brand salad dressings — not to mention wines bottled on the estate. A confectionery shop offers mountain taffy, French chews, white chocolate champagne balls, and milk chocolate cherry cordials. I lingered in the tiny Toymaker’s Shop, a cornucopia of teddy bears, rocking horses, and monkeys on a swing. In addition to the stuffed animals, storybooks, and iron blacksmith’s puzzles, there were turn-of-the-century Biltmore dolls, eye-dazzling kaleidoscopes, and hand-carved spinning tops. There’s even a shop called A Christmas Past that sells holiday decorations: Father Christmases, Nativities, angels, and toy soldiers. Poinsettias, wreaths, and fat snowmen surround the room, imbuing it with a genuine sense of holiday cheer. I had known of Biltmore House since college but had never seen it before. It will take one an entire day to enjoy everything the estate has to offer, and you will see many beautiful and awesome things. A visit to Biltmore House is a journey into the extravagant past, a time when moneyed families led a palatial existence. And today you can share that grandeur. At least for lovely day. there is much information about Biltmore on the internet, including their website & when one learns how very difficult it was to built such a structure in such a remote location, it makes it even more splendid to see one man's vision when it comes to life for you. don't forget to register for my GIVEAWAY found on Monday's blog posting may the Lord bless & keep you, my friends
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Asheville, NC, makes for a great weekend getaway. Along with visiting the Biltmore Estate, here are things to do with one day in downtown Asheville.
Use our free 20-page Biltmore Estate insider's guide with tips for tours of the House, gardens and winery in Asheville, packages, events and special ticket offers and discounts.
Visit these eight house museums in the Asheville and western North Carolina mountain area that are all near the bigger Biltmore House.
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There is a LOT that goes into renting a unit or home. I thought I’d share a list of what we do to prepare for listing our property and ultimately renting! Here we go…
The most stunning spots for your big day.
Are you planning a visit to the Biltmore? Here are nine helpful tips for visiting the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, to make your visit fun and memorable.
For Asheville, this is a great price! Cute home! The house was built in the late 1800’s. It is located on 1.01 acres in Asheville, North Carolina. The home features a covered front porch, hardwood floors, bead board, vaulted ceiling upstairs and some wood walls. There is an outbuilding on the property. The home was once featured in the magazine, Cabins and Coves. Two bedrooms, one bathroom and 1,358 square feet. $235,000 Contact Jennifer Farley with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty: 828-545-1383 From the Zillow listing: Attractive, 2-story farmhouse in need of revitalization! Once featured in Cabins and Coves Magazine, this historic home needs TLC but offers tons of charm and potential. Framed by mountain views and a rural, peaceful setting, enjoy quiet evenings on the covered front porch on over an acre of useable land. Bring the goats, chickens or sheep: Property is already equipped for your mini-farm with small barn, partial fencing, small pasture and meandering stream. Big skies for gardening & a location less than 10 miles to downtown Asheville. The farmhouse has all you need on one level including primary bedroom. 2nd bedroom and TWO additional bonus rooms on upper level with no permanent heat source […]
Today was the last day to use the free passes that came with my yearly passholder privileges at the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. Wouldn't you know it, it started raining and storming and we missed getting to take a lot of pictures outdoors. I did manage to snap this one (actually three shots woven together with Photomatix HDR software) while waiting for the shuttle. Believe me, it was POURING but I think the shot was worth it, it looks so medieval in this lighting. The celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three châteaux built in 16th-century France. It would feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more. The celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three châteaux built in 16th-century France. It would feature 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone would house a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more.
Here is a great weekend in Asheville itinerary. Discover the top Asheville hotel to stay at, best Asheville restaurants and fun things to do.
See the best Asheville cabin and cottage vacation rentals, top rated near Blue Ridge Parkway and Biltmore and romantic log cabins in the North Carolina mountains.
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See our insider's guide to Christmas at Biltmore Estate in Asheville with photos of decorations and candlelight tours in Biltmore House, and top things to do.
This hilltop residence, located at the edge of a wooded knoll in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has expansive southern and western views. Approaching through the woods, one arrives at a one-story facade of corten steel framed by wood. A hint of the views is provided through the glass door, but it is... Read more »
This beautiful European-inspired home was designed by ACM Design located in The Ramble community, in the heart of Asheville, North Carolina.
Heading to Asheville? Click for a full review of The Foundry Asheville, a new downtown lodging option bookable with Hilton points.
The challenge of the Kenilworth infill house was naximizing function while minimizing square footage to work on the infill lot and within the budget.
