The Biltmore is a beautiful castle/hotel in Asheville North Carolina. It is situated on square miles of manicured and cared for land.

It was built in the 1930's and it is still owned and run by the Biltmore family.

We will start by taking a look at the castle. Then we will also take a look at the gardens and grounds. They are very noteworthy.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that in order to enter the Biltmore grounds you drive through a gatehouse. That is proper castle etiquette! And it is several miles from the castle! They sure do have a lot of land around this castle. We will cover the land, gardens and grounds in a bit. But first let's get right to the castle.

That sculpture is not a permanent fixture. It is part of a temporary exhibition going on at the castle. It is glass work by an artisan named Chihuly.

Let's take a look inside.

But first is the loggia. A loggia is a length along one side or the back of a building that is covered and has columns. One one side is the interior of the building and on the other side is the outdoors. It's a beautiful transition area between outdoors and indoors. This is a great place for people to gather when having a party.

I don't know this for a fact but I am willing to bet that hollywood has filmed more than a few movie scenes right here on this loggia.

Let's enter the main foyer of the castle.

Of course there is a garden in the foyer. It is a Chihuly art piece.

There is a very casual self-guided tour through a good portion of the castle you cover several floors and you walk from room to room and down various quarters where you get a feel for the operation of the castle including bedrooms, sitting rooms, music room, kitchen and more.

The rooms are very 1930's. It makes me feel like I have stepped into the Great Gatsby. They have done a remarkable job preserving and caring for it all.

The Bowling Alley:

And there is lots of artwork.

The biltmore is a wonderful trip through the past. A journey to the heyday of the 1930's. And it isn't a re-creation. It remains actually how it was during that time period. You get to see how the Uber rich lived during that time period. And there is also a lot of stuff about the servants, their quarters and how they lived. It's an interesting tour.

Once you finish with the castle you really have to go out and explore the grounds, parks, gardens and conservatory.

Let's continue and take a look at the gardens and grounds