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Biltmore Estate Review
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Biltmore Estate 
- Address: Exit 50 off I-40, South Metro, Asheville, NC | Map It
- Phone: 828/255-1700; 800/624-1575
- www.biltmore.com
- Category: Houses/Mansions, Gardens/Arboretums
- Location: Asheville
Fodor's Review:
Built in the 1890s as the private home of George Vanderbilt, the astonishing 250-room French-Renaissance château is America's largest private residence. (Some of Vanderbilt's descendants still live here, but the bulk of the home and grounds are open to visitors.) Richard Morris Hunt designed it, and Frederick Law Olmsted landscaped the original 125,000-acre estate (now 8,000 acres), which faces Biltmore Village. It took 1,000 workers five years to complete the gargantuan project. On view are the priceless antiques and art collected by the Vanderbilts, along with 75 acres of gardens and formally landscaped grounds. You can also see the state-of-the-art winery and take candlelight tours of the house at Christmastime. The 4th floor, whose rooms are now open to the public, includes an observatory with sweeping views of the surrounding landscape, an architectural model room housing Hunt's 1889 model of the house, and servants' bedrooms and meeting hall, so you can see how the staff lived. Allow at least a full day to tour the house and grounds. If possible, avoid visiting on weekends during fall color season and the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when crowds are at their largest. Weekend admission prices are about 10% higher than weekday rates; the second visit in two days is only $10.
- Cost: $38 Mon.-Thurs., $42 Fri.-Sun.
- Open: Admission gate and reception and ticket center: Jan.-Mar., daily 9-4; Apr.-Dec., daily 8:30-5
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