November 16, 2016
Built between the years of 1889 and 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt, the Biltmore Estate is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet of floor space. As a beginner entrepreneur, George’s father, Cornelius Vanderbilt started a small boating business by building row boats and later building steam boats, eventually becoming the richest man in America. At one time, George owned all the railroads connecting everywhere from Chicago to the east coast. Eventually, Cornelius gave his entire fortune to his eldest son of 13 children (George Washington Vanderbilt), who down the road was said to be the richest man in the world, almost doubling his father’s fortune. Since 1895, millions of tourists a year visit the Estate to bask in the Victorian beauty that is Biltmore.
At 5AM on November 10th, THS students boarded an Abbott charter bus to make their four and a half hour trip to Asheville, North Carolina to visit the Biltmore Estate. About an hour into the trip, the thirty-eight people that attended stopped at Bojangles in Greensboro for an early breakfast to last until arrival. Students got to the Biltmore Village at approximately 10:30AM, where all the students and chaperones freely circulated to the gift shops, original wood working shacks, and authentic barns the Biltmore had for touring. Being on a tight schedule, everyone was back on the bus by 11:30AM to make the tour of the Estate by noon.
After being thoroughly welcomed and given a tour guide, the THS group was lead into the foyer, which connected several different rooms, including the atrium. The Estate was cast with the Christmas décor that the employees set out, started on October 4th and finished on November 8th. Almost every individual room had its own Christmas tree, all decorated by hand. Our very informative tour guide took us through the home, telling us additional facts about the family and purposes of varying rooms. During the tour, the students were guided to every floor except for the top floor, which is where current heirs of the Estate occasionally reside for short periods of time. Several of the rooms were blocked off due to persevering the materials inside or for storage purposes. The tour lasted three hours, including a period to sit and eat lunch at the small restaurants, and to tour the grounds and gardens that surround the Estate.
Once completing the tour and boarding the bus once more, the group made their way to their dinner destination, having the choice between McDonald’s or Wendy’s in Greensboro. After a lovely day in Asheville, the THS group arrived back at the school at 9PM.
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