Jim and Marilyn's Visit - Day 4

On Thursday, we traveled to the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. This is the personal home George Vanderbilt built for his future family - the largest private home in America.

We started at the Diana Statue, across the green from the home.

View of the house from the Diana statue.

The Italian Garden, to the left of the home.

We took the garden tour first.....they have miles of trails through their gardens!

A beautiful iris

View of the house from the gardens

The most impressive garden was the Walled Garden

The inside of the walls surrounding this garden were lined with these trees, being shaped by the gardeners into various forms.

The gardens were full of beautiful symmetric patterns of color

Inside the garden was this conservatory

whose highlight was the vibrant hydrangeas

There were also rows and rows of orchids

and many other beautiful flowers

a young fern

After touring the house (sorry - no pictures inside!), we drove through the grounds to the Antler Hill Village

A waterfall along the way

The Village

We went to the wine tasting, then had dinner at the Bistro before heading home. They grow much of their own food on the grounds - we had a lovely meal with lots of spring vegetables.

We spent the last two days of Jim and Marilyn's visit lounging around the house - reading, cooking, doing yard work, just generally enjoy each other's company. Thanks for such a great visit!