Brandon and I were lucky enough to make a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. We visited his sister, Rayna and her husband Chris at their home near Cameron the week before Christmas. It was a four hour drive from Cameron to Asheville and as usual, we filled the car time with Rayna’s stories of my husband as a kid (those are my favorites) and jokes.

Biltmore House is the fruition of George Vanderbilt’s state of the art dreams. Mr. Vanderbilt opened the doors to his mansion in 1895 for his lavish Christmas party. The interior space occupies 43 acres and boasts over 250 rooms. Many walls are covered in silk, silver, and gold. Today, Biltmore remains the largest privately-owned home in the United States and employs nearly 1,800 employees.

Touring the house at Christmas was a sight to behold. Here are some glimpses of the exterior (no photography allowed inside). I would have easily filled ten memory cards on each floor…

We walked around the grounds right before sunset and the giant greenhouse was a real treat! Each wing supports a unique climate for its plants.

I loved the patterns and textures. Brandon took the photos in the cactus section. Beautiful!

And the pineapple was so tempting!

There was even a large Koi pond in the center with Oriental plants all around.

Chris and Rayna enjoyed some time together in the courtyard as we sipped hot cocoa from one of the on-site shops.

That was some yummmmmmy hot cocoa.

Of course, Brandon called ahead to color coordinate with the vegetation : )

Not really sure what the funny face was all about.

Biltmore has several gift shops, each with their own specialty. This one had ornaments similar to those adorning the trees inside the mansion. These little flocked and feathered birds were so cute!

As we left, we enjoyed one last magical view of Biltmore’s majesty.

Peace and love,

Erika