Travel : Weekend Getaway to Asheville

Have you made any new summer vacation plans?  With almost all of the states slowly opening again, many of us are thinking about a summer vacation.  Perhaps you will not take a break this summer, but I want to share my weekend getaway to visit Asheville and the Biltmore Estate. If you haven’t visited Asheville, North Carolina, you need to put it on your bucket list!

The Biltmore

This post has been updated with new information since the Coronavirus.

We had a window of opportunity to visit Asheville and the weather was perfect for visiting the Biltmore and all of her glory.
If you have about 3 days to spend time in Asheville, I highly recommend it.

Day 1- Exploring Asheville

We drove from Atlanta to Asheville in 3 1/2 hours via the scenic route through the Great Smoky Mountains. The first stop was checking in to our hotel before heading into downtown Asheville.

There is a uniqueness to Asheville because of the people who live there and I like to think of Asheville as the southern version of Vermont.
People are incredibly kind, laid back, and dare I say; the color gray was not seen in the interiors as much as on the top of heads. Long hair is the preferred length of both sexes.

Perhaps because Asheville and the Biltmore are enjoyed more by adults than little children I saw a lot of Baby Boomers, not Baby strollers. (If children enjoy history, they will enjoy the Biltmore otherwise it’s a big old house with old furniture in it.)

The art and craft community is alive and well in Asheville. So are the “Farm to Table” restaurants in Asheville. It is organic and bohemian (hippie) at its finest.

Grand Bohemian Hotel

I checked into the Grand Bohemian Hotel, part of the Marriott’s Autograph Collection (used Marriott points!!) but not a Marriott-owned property. The Grand Bohemian is a beautiful hotel situated in the Biltmore Village, about 6 miles from the Biltmore Estate.
The moment you step inside the authentic Old World Tudor style- hunting lodge, you quickly get a sense that this could easily be a hunting lodge in any of the ski resorts in America. Antiques, antlers everywhere, dead animals, and twig chandeliers are the main decor themes. The hotel is also one massive art gallery on its own. Every floor had art for sale.

Grand Bohemian Hotel

Grand Bohemian Hotel

Our Room

We had a king-size bedroom that had an open view of our bathroom. The room was decorated just like the rest of the hotel, with animal motifs with antlers.

Bathroom in the Grand Bohemian Hotel However romantic rose petals in a tub are, it just doesn’t happen after spending 33 years with the love of your life. But the glass of champagne in the tub still does…………

Bedroom in the Grand Bohemian Hotel

The Dining Room

I had to share with you the dining room at the Grand Bohemian. We had breakfast here every morning, and I just loved these beautiful red twig chandeliers! To the right going into the kitchen, was a massive antler semi-flush chandelier.

Downtown Asheville

Carmel’s

The Basilica of St. Lawrence

It was fun to see people playing chess in Pack Square Park. Sadly this is no longer happening in Asheville this summer as I write. Hopefully, playing chess will once again be welcomed in Asheville.

We headed off to Limone’s (Mexican-California cuisine) for margaritas and dinner. I made a dinner reservation on Open Table after reading the great reviews. I highly recommend the pomegranate margarita and the three cheese Chile Relleno! Muy delicioso!

Limones Restaurant- Asheville

Day 2- The Biltmore

The Biltmore has just reopened and is taking safety precautions for the guests, employees, and the community.

Read more about the safety measures here.

I am also very blessed to have a husband who likes to tag along on my quest to see large historical homes and spend time in the cities where these grand dames reside.

BiltmoreFacts

This is an all-day event or you can break it up into 2 days but it took us 2 hours to tour the gardens, 2 hours to tour the home, and 2 hours for the Biltmore Winery Tour (sampled 10 wines!) and lunch at the Bistro in Antler Hill Village. All part of the 10 square miles that was home to George Washington Vanderbilt.
You begin with a 3-mile drive up the Biltmore’s long approach road through magnificent grounds all designed by the famous landscape architect, Fredrick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York.

You are not permitted to photograph the interiors but you can photograph the exteriors. The Biltmore was designed by the great architect, Richard Morris Hunt who also designed the Breakers in Newport for another Vanderbilt, Cornelius. As America’s largest privately-owned home, modeled from a French Chateau and with 4 acres of floor space including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces it truly is the largest home in America.

George Vanderbilt died in 1914. After his death, his wife, Edith, sold around 87,000 acres of the Estate to the United States Forest Service.

In 1930, Cornelia and her husband John Cecil opened the house to the public. According to the Biltmore website, it was opened during the Great Depression to boost the area’s attraction.

The Biltmore includes the Biltmore Winery, the Inn on Biltmore Estate, and the Antler Hill Village, which features the Village Hotel.

Biltmore Estate sees plenty of tourism, but it especially skyrockets during the Christmas season.

Interesting historical note: In 1942 the Vanderbilts hid art for the National Gallery of Art during WWII in the Biltmore.
Purchase the audio tour guide it is worth every penny listening to the history of this fine home. 

The Biltmore Gardens

The Biltmore Gardens are one of my favorite gardens that we have visited in the late few years. We love to spend time visiting gardens in the cities we visit and I am so blessed that my husband enjoys them as much as I do! We saw a lot of gardens in 2019 and every one of them inspired me to add more flowers to my own gardens.

More gardens are featured in these posts:

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If you are planning on seeing all the gardens at the Biltmore expect to spend 2 hours walking and seeing each Garden before you go inside the house.

The Walled Garden was my favorite.  Here you are looking at the Conservatory at the back of the Walled Garden.

You will see people tending to the flower beds in the Walled Garden, mostly horticultural students.

I was looking through the arbor in the Walled Garden.

 A woman was painting the bridge at the Bass Pond. Do you see the bridge in the distance?

It is almost a mile walk back up to the Estate from the Bass pond. There are many trails and gardens on this property but these photos are a glimpse of the enormity of Olmsted’s visionary landscapes for the Vanderbilts.

Biltmore House

The house has 255 rooms, 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. However, you only get to see 41 on tour. But it was enough to capture the essence of the lavish lifestyle of the Vanderbilts. There were incredible antiques, art, an indoor pool, a bowling alley, and an indoor garden room. The audio tour was so full of the history of each room we toured. So much fun learning about the history of this magnificent house while we walked from room to room. Read more about the history of the Biltmore here.

George Vanderbilt’s Bedroom

The massive Banquet Hall is the most impressive room, where the Vanderbilt’s entertained family and friends regularly. At one end of the Banquet Hall was the Organ loft. This pipe organ was donated in 1998 and plays every 20 minutes. George Vanderbilt donated the original pipe organ to a church.

Banquet Hall

The Banquet Hall at Christmas holds a fully decorated 35 foot Fraser tree. George Vanderbilt formally opened the house on Christmas Eve of  1895. He invited his extended family from the north to a grand holiday housewarming party.  Read more about the Biltmore Christmas here.

Source

According to the Biltmore website, from 1875 to 1914, Vanderbilt read around 81 books a year in his library.

The library at Christmas. I need to see the Biltmore at Christmas! I bet it’s magical!

Source

Antler Village and Winery

After the house tour, we went to Antler Hill Village for lunch and to tour the Biltmore winery. The Village is about two miles from the house, along the main road through the Estate. Adjacent to the Village is the Inn at Biltmore hotel. The Estate’s second hotel, Village Hotel on Biltmore Estate, opened in 2015. This clock tower is part of the original dairy operation of a three-winged building, joined by a central spine, that featured a four-sided clock tower in the center. In the 1980s, the dairy barn was converted into the Biltmore Winery.

The Winery

Did you know: Aside from being the most popular destination in North Carolina, it’s also home to the most visited Winery in the U.S. Your daytime admission to Biltmore includes a complimentary wine tasting and an introduction to the Biltmore Winery’s distinctive portfolio of multi-award-winning reds, whites, and rosés. The Winery is actually located in what was the dairy barn for the Estate. This is no ordinary dairy barn, however. It was originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the architect for Biltmore House. After the dairy barn was no longer in use, William A.V. Cecil, the grandson of Biltmore’s original owner George W. Vanderbilt, decided that a winery would be the natural outcome of ongoing research and a logical extension of his grandfather’s intention that the Estate be self-supporting. In 1985, the Winery officially opened to the public. Read more about the Biltmore Dairy

George Vanderbilt loved his cars and this 1913 Stevens-Duryea is on display at the Biltmore.  This rare 1913 Stevens-Duryea Model “C-Six” seven-passenger touring car is one of 10 motor vehicles on the Estate that was registered in North Carolina and the only one purchased by George Vanderbilt that remains in The Biltmore Company’s collection. This particular model is believed to be one of only 10 known existing in the world today.

More to see at Antler’s Village

Restaurants and shops are found in Antler’s Village. You can find souvenirs to bring home from visiting the Biltmore Estate. We loved this little Village that is part of the Biltmore Estate and were glad to spend a few hours here too.

Cedric’s Tavern at Antler Hill Village

A view from Antler Hill Village looking up towards the Inn at Biltmore

We enjoyed having a pizza at the Bistro in Antler Hill Village. It’s a long day touring the grounds of the Biltmore Estate so I highly recommend you eat while at the Biltmore.  The manager laughed when he heard us sighing as we sat. He said that is a very common sound he hears from tourists. Great pizzas!

       Bistro at Antlers Hill Village

We ate dinner close to our hotel in the Biltmore Village at the Corner Kitchen because we were too exhausted to drive back into downtown Asheville. It was probably the best decision we made for restaurants because the food was so good we went back to the restaurant for breakfast the next day and our last day in Asheville. Unfortunately at this time, the Corner Kitchen is closed because of the Coronavirus. If you do go to Asheville in the future, this is my favorite restaurant on our weekend getaway to Asheville.

 
This great little restaurant is worth spending time eating at various times of the day. I just enjoyed looking at the menu, but the food and the staff are fantastic!
Historical fact: The Corner Kitchen was the house occupied first by the Waddell Family, who were the parents of one of the Estate’s engineers. 

Day 3- Biltmore Village and Grove Park Inn

Our last day was quick but I wanted to spend time looking at boutiques, art galleries, and walk around the tiny Biltmore Village which Vanderbilt conceived of the area as a “town center” to support his self-sufficient Estate. Richard Morris Hunt, the architect for the Biltmore House, designed four of the original Village buildings, All Souls Church, the Railway Station, The Biltmore Company offices and the Post Office. After Hunt’s death, the job of completing the houses and shops was left to Richard Sharpe Smith who was Hunt’s on-site architect. The street plan and landscape design of the Village was executed by Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of New York’s Central Park). Initially, the homes were rental units for many of the Estate workers. The shops in the Village vary from boutique-style to name your poison fashion retail. I never step foot into a name your poison retail shop on a visit to another city. I saw a lot of great funky woman’s clothing stores in Asheville. ( sorry that my husband was tagging along or I would have been shopping a whole new wardrobe!!)

 The Grove Park Inn is a fine example of Arts and Craft Design and is a registered historical hotel.

Grove Park Inn was built by Edwin Wiley Grove, owner of a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm, in 1900. The inn, which opened in 1913, has served the public but also the military from 1942 to 1946 during World War II. The federal government took over use of the inn during World War II. For a while, it was used to confine diplomats from the nations that opposed the Allies in the war, including Germany, Italy and Japan and some smaller nations.

Upon entering the hotel you will see a mix of Arts & Craft furniture and decor with touches of modern furniture in the lobby. I took photos but they didn’t turn out as nice as this photo I found here.

This 4-star hotel has a Donald Ross-designed golf course and a 43,000 square-foot subterranean spa complex. Although the Spa was added as part of an extensive renovation in 2001, it’s easier than ever to unplug. All Phones and electronic devices are put in your locker upon arrival.

The hotel sits on the western facing slope of Sunset Mountain, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can see Asheville in the distance.

This concludes my weekend getaway of Asheville and crosses off the Biltmore on my bucket list. I will return to Asheville because I enjoyed this town of laid back gray-haired bohemian artists, the kindness, and the fellowship they shared with this interior designer.

I hope you find a reason to put the Biltmore and Asheville on your bucket list too.

Here are some more weekend getaways you might enjoy:

Weekend Getaway to Nashville

Weekend Getaway to Coral Gables

Thank you for stopping by!