125,000 acres of land.
5 Stories high, and a basement complete with bowling alley.
Horse stables with all solid bass tack and tack hooks on the walls
It's own winery
Enough lawn acreage that you could not mow it in a week in a helicopter turned upside down
Each floor has it's own private servants and the servants have there own rooms.
In the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt, youngest son ofWilliam Henry Vanderbilt, began to make regular visits with his mother, Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt (1821–1896), to the Asheville, NC area. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to create his own summer estate in the area, which he called his "little mountain escape", just as his older brothers and sisters had built opulent summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, and Hyde Park, New York.
A glimpse to the good life:
front of main house.
view from above
The three fireplaces in the banquet hall
The hall itself
One of numerous gardens
There is more, much much more but I'm starting to get an inferiority complex just trying to write this post...if you
want to really get sick to your stomach you can go here....Excuse me while I go throw up....................................
Look at it this way, can you imagine what the utilities cost?
ReplyDeleteThere, now don't you feel better?
It's a marvel of architecture and conspicuous consumption all in one place.
Sherry...Took the family there to tour the house...it's Insane ...with a capital I. There are so many rooms, hallways, secret passages, stairwells, elevators, etc..etc.. I could have hidden in the house and still be living there and no one would have ever known...but it is one impressive place and you are correct it is an obscene display of wealth and standing.........
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ReplyDeleteWhen we were in Asheville a few years ago, we toured the Biltmore House. We would like to go back again during the Christmas season when it is decorated for the season.
Whit....Yes indeed....Christmas at the Biltmore is something to behold... What a shame to have someone spend more on Christmas decorations than my house, your house, the white house, and the outhouse cost.......
ReplyDeleteThat was a very cool place. I loved the grounds, and the house was not too shabby either. Didn't care about the fancy rooms so much. The really interesting part was the plumbing, heating, and mechanical aspects that were built into the place. Lot of thoughtful design.
ReplyDeleteOh yea, but do they have an energy star ball washer? (for their golf balls) Phuuuuuppt!
ReplyDeleteSkinny....Yeah gotta admit they do have some neat stuff especially for the time period it was built...
ReplyDeleteFringe...I'm sure old man Vanderbilt had enough money to have his own personal ball washer..and he probably washed the old man's golf ball as well....Oh Lord forgive me...I didn't mean that, and have mercy on the pigmy's in Africa.
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