I visited the Biltmore Estate here in Asheville NC this past weekend. Here's a couple of pics I thought I'd share! If you've never been to Biltmore before, I highly recommend visiting it one day. The house is America's largest home. Its absolutely amazing to see how the Vanderbilt family lived back then.

Also, the estate is home to one of the few Land Rover Experience driving schools. I've been out of their course with my DII and it was a blast. Got a pic of their actual cars too:

 

That's sweet Cam, I want to attend a LR Experience Driving School one day.

 

I've heard the actual lessons are pretty fun. But boy, they're expensive. Got lucky to go with Land Rover of Greensboro on the estate course a couple years ago and it was only $50 for a full guided tour with your own personal vehicles. The cost of the school with their cars is anywhere from $250-$1000+.

 

Cam, that is cool. Hope to catch up with you soon.

 

Nice! The Biltmore is flippin' cool, and your Disco looks right at home there.

 

Now I know what I want to do next time I am back there - have been maybe 20 times over the years, every tour, behind the scenes, on the roof, etc. Even met a lady who was a servant in the house when she was 6 - he had 85 live-in servants, about 175,000 square feet, 260+ rooms, built when he was a bachelor. All he could see from his master bedroom belonged to him, he donated it to become the first national forest. He had admired the managed forests in Europe, and wanted to start the same in the US. So all those forest trails we enjoy - thank this guy.

 

The Biltmore House is sweet. I used to have season passes. I really want to do the behind the scenes and rooftop tours. If you haven't been at Christmas time you should plan to go back and see it then. Its amazing!

 

ahhh I love Christmastime there! If you're not in the spirit after a Christmastime Biltmore visit, you must be the grinch.

Savannah, Mr. Vanderbilt was an amazing guy. Even though he was loaded, he still maintained his family values and really did a lot for the community. He loved the idea of the national forest as you mentioned.

One cool thing about growing up in Asheville is some of my personal connections to the families who inherited the estate. I played soccer with a kid whose mother is related to the Vanderbilt family and one of the daughters of the Cecil family hangs out with us from time to time(the Cecil name is most commonly connected to the Estate nowadays). Normal kids, but awesome family history. The younger Cecil son loves Land Rovers by the way. He played a big role in bringing the LR experience to Biltmore.