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The Biltmore Estates were created at the end of the 19th century by George Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt who made himself wealthy in shipping and railroad. The estates are still privately owned by George's grandson, William Cecil, but the family no longer lives there. The mansion has been largely restored to its 1895 period of origin, and is now a tourist attraction (grossing about $30 million a year on visitor's tickets alone). Biltmore is still the largest home in the US: 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms, 60-odd bathrooms, heated indoor swimming pool, and indoor bowling alley. The architecture is French Gothic (I think that is the correct term), and is reminiscent of Versailles, if you have ever been there or seen pictures, although I believe Versailles is bigger, although not more opulent. Nothing is more opulent. Biltmore was a fascinating glimpse into life in the "gilded age". George loved the best of everything, and when he acquired it, he put it somewhere in Biltmore. Paintings (including 2 by Pierre-August Renoir), small bronze sculptures, furnishings, and custom made fabric for wall coverings -- all were to be found in all the above-ground rooms (basement rooms contained kitchens, pantries, servants quarters, etc., and did not warrant art, I suppose). George Vanderbilt began having this mansion built when he was just 26 years old. It was finished and he moved into it when he was 33 years old, having acquired a wife by then. He, his wife and their daughter lived in the house with approximately 50 to 60 servants. That is an amazing ratio, don't you think? Following are some of the details that really made an impression on us: George Vanderbilt's library contained 23,000 volumes, all leather bound; one of the rooms had tooled leather walls; one of the rooms was lined with gold silk; the servants' rooms were similar in comfort to our home; there were six oval rooms with hand-carved oak doors (to make the rooms oval with the doors closed); the house had central heating and was fully electrified; there was an elevator; there were six pantries and four rooms for laundry; etc. etc. etc. The house was designed by a man named Richard Hunt, a nationally renowned architect. The grounds were designed by Frederick Olmsted, the designer of Central Park. And George Vanderbilt himself had major input on the design features and he had excellent taste. The three men working together, with money being no object at any point, managed to create an extremely well functioning home, where no detail was left alone and the effect was breath-taking perfection. We spent a pleasant day there, taking a self-guided tour of the home and gardens. Biltmore Estate originally included more than 100,000 acres of land. Some time ago, the family sold off enough land to create Pisgah National Forest. 8000 acres are still under the family's control. The gardens and conservatory were Jordan's favorite -- she loves flowers of all kinds, and boy were there flowers. The gardens had been laid out by a famous landscape architect of the time, and were glorious. The conservatory was a sort of gigantic hothouse, were exotic plants and flowers were grown and displayed. It was complete with a full basement, containing boilers and such for heating during winter months -- for an area nearly as large as a football field. Fairly overwhelmed by opulence, we departed Biltmore and found the French Broad Food Coop -- very similar to the Isla Vista Food Coop, if you have been there. We were very happy for the opportunity to stock up on organic food, and dropped a small fortune there. When we returned to camp just before dark, we sought out the family of ducklings that live along the river by our trailer. The mom and most of her brood were nowhere to be found, but there was a single peeping lost little yellow duckling who sucked us into his dilemma. Without mom to keep him warm in the sub-freezing night, we suspected he would not survive. Jordan kept watch on him(?) while Jody and I went in search of his momma. We had no luck, and our closeness scared the duckling away, into the river. Other campers were also now attempting to reunite him, searching for the mom. The duckling went searching on his own, and swam across the strong current to a small island about 30 yards off shore -- no mom there. About that time, Jody spotted the mom and her chillin swimming back to our shore from the far side of the river, but mom and baby did not see or hear each other. We could now see both, but they could not see each other -- frustration! As we puzzled and worried over this situation, the baby somehow, unseen by us, swam back from the island and found mom on his own. If we had left him entirely alone, he would most likely have found his momma by himself much more quickly, without all the people scurrying around 'helping'. A little bit of wildlife drama to liven up our evening.
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