Christmas at Biltmore

If you have seen Downton Abbey and live in the Southeast USA, then I am sure you have heard of Biltmore. Heck, you probably knew of Biltmore before, however I did not. I found out about the Biltmore Estate when I heard they were holding a Downton Abbey exhibit there. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. My love for everything antique and historical was made greater by visiting this elaborate "castle" as my kids called it. It was even more beautiful during the Christmas time. It was freezing, and packed of course, but it did not deter us. I thought I would share a few of the hundreds of photos I took.

Biltmore House, constructed in 1889 by George Vanderbilt, took six years to complete. This "castle" has over 250 rooms and is certainly a maze to say the least. The main floor has a breakfast room, dining room, library, music room, sitting room, etc. The basement has the servant rooms, kitchen (which even to day would be a dream to cook in for me), bowling alley, swimming pool, gym, etc. There is even an entire floor dedicated to guests where they have their own bathrooms of course, as well as sitting area which I can say without a doubt has more square footage than my entire house.

Later, they built a dairy and winery. There are blacksmith shops as well.

During WWII, this estate housed many works of art from the National Gallery of art in Washington D.C.

Later in the 21st century, the hotel was put in as well as the Antler Hill Village where visitors can shop, and the Village Inn.

Originally, this entire Estate covered 125,000 acres.

Google Image of Biltmore 

Biltmore at Night. There were about 11+ Christmas trees lit up which gave us the light for this photo

The dining room at Biltmore and three of the 65 fireplaces.

My favorite room! Lady Edith Vanderbilt's bedroom. 

Napoleon Bonaparte chess set. 

Another favorite room, the Library. 

If you haven't had the pleasure of visiting regardless of it being during the holidays or not, I would suggest going. If you're a history nerd like me, you won't be disappointed. You may even leave with a better appreciation of it.