The Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina

We spent several hours touring the Biltmore House and Gardens. This place is amazing. It took over 4 years to build the house, they finished in 1895 making it the largest home in America to date. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but it was very impressive. Some of my favorite interesting facts are: the house sits on 8,000 acres of land; the library contains more than 23,000 books; there are 43 bathrooms - most houses in 1895 didn't have even one; electric lights throughout the house; one of the bedrooms displays two Renoir paintings, Child with an Orange and The Young Algerian Girl; there is a bowling alley, swimming pool and gymnasium in the basement; they have an early form of walk-in refrigerators, a laundry room with a belt-driven barrel washer and an inside drying room; etc. Mr. Vanderbilt and his architect were very forward thinking.

There are several gardens and they are all beautiful. The conservatory is open to the public and you can buy hundreds of varieties of plants. I could have spent all day there looking at each and every type of flower and plant.

We learned a lot and really enjoyed our time there.