Wonderful photos! The gardens and scenery are breathtaking.Susan & I just returned from a trip to the North Carolina Mountains around Asheville - we stayed at the Inn on the Biltmore Estate which has the famous Biltmore House (see more in my NC Mountain travel thread which I'll be adding to later) - our 45th anniversary - but just a few pics in this thread - Biltmore Gardens (just a portion), Bass Pond w/ Boat House, Bridge, and a panoramic view of some of the mountains from the large outdoor patio.
Portions of the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992) w/ Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeleine Stowe were filmed on the Biltmore Estate, including a scene of the colonel's daughters crossing the bridge (last image below) - some information HERE for those interested. Dave
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Wonderful photos! The gardens and scenery are breathtaking.
.The River Arts District consists of a vast array of artists and working studios in 22 former factories and historical buildings nestled along the French Broad River.
More than 180 working studios, many with showrooms and galleries, are open every day, all year round. Our Artists work in paint, pencil, pottery, metal, fiber, glass, wax, paper and more.
Come be inspired, shop, meet the artists and watch live demonstrations!
No matter how many times I've been to Biltmore, I'm always amazed at the beauty of the place. Even the shuttle bus stop in front of the winery has a garden so that you can see flowers while you wait. The 2-mile garden walk was a pleasure to stroll through, with all the different shrubs and flowers.Susan & I just returned from a trip to the North Carolina Mountains around Asheville - we stayed at the Inn on the Biltmore Estate which has the famous Biltmore House (see more in my NC Mountain travel thread which I'll be adding to later) - our 45th anniversary - but just a few pics in this thread - Biltmore Gardens (just a portion), Bass Pond w/ Boat House, Bridge, and a panoramic view of some of the mountains from the large outdoor patio.
Portions of the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992) w/ Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeleine Stowe were filmed on the Biltmore Estate, including a scene of the colonel's daughters crossing the bridge (last image below) - some information HERE for those interested. Dave
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I can't imagine how many gardeners they employ.Hi Scifan.. - thanks for the above; those flower scenes are just part of the enclosed gardens, i.e. there are larger gardens outside the walled area (some others are the Italian Gardens, Arboretum, Azalea Garden, Walk to Bass Pond, etc.)
Map below shows the extent of these gardens w/ different walks to the Bass Pond (white arrow is the Bridge location from my previous pics) - the walk is downhill to the pond and a hike back up - probably did 3 miles so counted as one of my exercise days -. Some more pics this time from the web showing the various 'gardens' & arboretum - the latter has trees, bushes, & shrubs from all over the world (selected to hopefully survive in the mid-Atlantic mountains) - the landscape architect was Frederick Law Olmsted (who also designed Central Park in NYC) - Biltmore was his last major and his best project, according to him - he also was responsible for the start of the American Forestry program for restoration & conservation (this is all discussed on the special 90 minute 'Legacy of the Land' tour which we took for the third time!). Dave
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It's so much fun to meet the artists in their studios. They love to talk to visitors about their work. Many have interesting backgrounds: the woman who makes lamps was a theatre director and traveling puppeteer.In our recent trip to the Asheville area, we did something NEW to us (but which should have been done years ago!) - we visited the River Arts District near the French Broad River, a previous industrial/factory center in the city now converted into numerous artist studios starting in 1985 (brief description quoted below from their website - click the link, if interested).
Below is a map of the area - we had time just to visit several buildings (see arrows) and purchased two art pieces, one a teapot (which is useable but will simply be on display for us) made by a Japanese ceramic/pottery artist, and the other an artsy lamp on a wood base - pics of both below - Dave![]()
Probably at least as many as they did when the estate was still a private home.I can't imagine how many gardeners they employ.
I can't imagine how many gardeners they employ.
Here's a photo of Biltmore under construction.Some interesting facts about the Biltmore Estate HERE, for those interested - stated there, the number of people now working at the estate is 1,800 (with likely seasonal changes); of course, that would include all areas - so not sure 'how many' of those work on the gardens & forests - the place is still large, i.e. 8,000 acres; originally, George W. Vanderbilt owned 125,000 acres which included the mountains seen from the house.
Another interesting fact in that list is the amount of limestone used on the house - nearly 10,000,000 pounds - the stone was quarried in Indiana (from the same quarry that provided the limestone for the Washington Monument) - the 'skeleton' of the house is mainly iron, brick, and mortar w/ a limestone facade. Dave![]()