Historic house museum and Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt is the largest privately owned house in the United States and remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions.
General Information
Biltmore House typically opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon or evening depending on the day
Gardens, Antler Hill Village, Winery, shops, and restaurants operate on separate daily schedules
Guests should check the official Hours of Operation calendar when purchasing tickets and before arrival
Grounds Only Admission: Starting at $50 per person
Luminere, House & Grounds Admission (select evenings): Starting at $130 per person
Luminere & Grounds Admission (select evenings): Starting at $65 per person
Candlelight Christmas Evenings Admission (seasonal): Starting at $110 per person
Admission prices vary by date, season, and availability
How to Get There
From Downtown Asheville (near major hotel chains including Hilton, Marriott, Renaissance, DoubleTree, and Aloft hotels, about 3 mi): Take Biltmore Avenue (US-25 South) from downtown Asheville, continue to the Biltmore Estate entrance, then follow the clearly marked estate roads and parking signs to Biltmore House at 1 Lodge Street.
Overview
Biltmore Estate is a Gilded Age showpiece and the largest privately owned house in the United States — a 178,926-square-foot Châteauesque mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and still owned by his descendants today. Architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on the French Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley, while landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (best known for Central Park) transformed the surrounding 125,000 acres into parkland, farmland, and managed forest. The estate now covers about 8,000 acres split by the French Broad River, just a few miles from downtown Asheville.
Things to Do
Tour Biltmore House
The 250-room house has 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. Don't miss the Banquet Hall, with its 70-foot vaulted ceiling and 1916 pipe organ; the two-story Library, holding 10,000 volumes and a ceiling painting brought over from a Venetian palazzo; the sunken, octagonal Winter Garden with its marble-and-bronze fountain; and the Grand Staircase, which spirals 107 steps around a four-story wrought-iron chandelier. The basement holds an indoor pool, bowling alley, and gymnasium — all state-of-the-art amenities when the house was built.
Walk the Gardens and Grounds
Olmsted's 75 acres of formal gardens include a walled garden, an Italian garden, and a conservatory, plus the Bass Pond, the Lagoon, and the statue-topped Vista reached by the Rampe Douce staircase. The estate's stables and carriage house, once home to Vanderbilt's driving horses, sit just north of the main house.
Explore Antler Hill Village and Biltmore Village
Antler Hill Village, added in 2010, has shops, restaurants, and the Biltmore Winery, converted from the estate's former dairy barn. Biltmore Village, at the estate's entrance, was originally built as a self-sufficient community for estate workers and now houses shops, restaurants, and the Cathedral of All Souls.
Stay on the Estate
Two hotels operate on the property: The Inn on Biltmore Estate and the more casual Village Hotel in Antler Hill Village.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Biltmore Estate", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
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