Biltmore

From the wilderness yesterday to order and decadence today. I spent my morning at Biltmore Estate, Old Man Vanderbilt's mountain shack. With a mere 250 rooms this is America's largest home (and was only the holiday house). The mansion is a French Chateau built in 1895 and is still owned by the Vanderbilt descendants but used only for tourism nowadays.

The gardens were designed by the same fellow who did New York's Central Park and there are both formal areas and woodland (so the gentlemen could do a spot of hunting I presume). Below you can see the Bass Pond, the walled tulip garden and a view of the mountains through the wisteria.

The estate also has a winery, farm and village (for the sale of tourist paraphernalia). Some of the wines were quite pleasant and apparently this is the most visited winery in the country.

Just beside the estate is Biltmore Village, full of craft and antique shops and cute cafes and eateries. I also explored downtown Asheville which is more of the same with some organic food markets thrown in the mix.

I got a bit snap-happy today but then the subjects were pretty stunning and a picture here does say a thousand words!