![]() ![]() Still family-owned, fully restored, and expanded to include a winery, world-renowned gardens, a hotel, several restaurants, and numerous outdoor activities, the Biltmore Estate attracts more than a million visitors to Asheville each year. Vanderbilt spared no expense in its design, which included an indoor pool, bowling alley and exercise room, elevators, forced-air heating, and an intercom system-all considered revolutionary in 1895. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and modeled after a chateau the two men had toured in the Loire Valley, the Biltmore mansion and grounds replicated a working French estate. The grand Biltmore Estate has been a tourist attraction for a hundred years.Īmong the city’s early arrivals was George Vanderbilt II, who became so enchanted with Asheville that he spent nearly his entire inheritance on the 125,000-acre estate and 250-room manor he christened Biltmore. Together, they strengthen the local economy and support the trendy restaurants and upscale galleries unusual for a city of just 83,000 residents. Southerners come to escape heat and humidity, Northerners to avoid snow and ice. The combination of Asheville’s location and its moderate yet distinctive seasons has resulted in its becoming a year-round tourist destination. The city’s warm natural springs, clean mountain air, hiking trails, panoramic views, brief winters, cool summers, and extended spring and fall seasons soon brought a steady stream of exhausted businessmen, Washington politicians, and curious tourists via the Southern Railway. Nestled in the lush French Broad River Valley and completely surrounded by the imposing Blue Ridge Mountains, it wasn’t until the arrival of the railroad in 1880 that word spread of its healing effects. ![]() Combined, they create a city that’s delightful to explore by car or by walking through the quirky, artsy, active downtown.Īs cities go, Asheville was a late bloomer. In between, like a collection of books, is an array of architectural delights-from Queen Anne and Colonial Revival to English Tudor and Art Deco, with enough bungalows mixed in to earn it the distinction of Arts & Crafts capital of the South. Gilded Age Victorian to the south, austere Arts & Crafts to the north. The Grove Park Inn remains an Arts & Crafts icon and a mecca for the movement’s enthusiasts.Īsheville, North Carolina, is a city flanked by two famous bookends: the 1895 Biltmore Estate and the 1913 Grove Park Inn. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |