This last part includes pictures of the gardens farthest from the house. The grounds seemed to go on forever; I could've spent days wandering just the gardens themselves. It's pretty amazing how every single piece of land was planned and pruned to perfection. Everything seemed to be a part of this balancing act between undisturbed nature and perfected beauty. I've never really seen anything like it, and that alone was worth the trip.

The last picture is the view from the statue of Diana, where they host weddings and events. We walked up to the statue just as we were about to leave, and I'm so glad we did. This last view was the perfect ending note to our experience at the Biltmore. 

the biltmore. (part 2)

This part includes pictures from the main garden area of the house. My dad teased me for being in macro-flower-photography heaven. Har-har. 

But really, I was in color-inspiration heaven. Although I would really love to see the Biltmore around Christmastime someday, I'm so glad that my first visit was during this time of year instead. Spring seemed to be at its peak, and the beauty of all the different blooms made the house feel so alive. Despite overcast skies, the gardens were absolutely magical.

the biltmore. (part 1)

I took a lot of pictures, so I had to split this post up into 3 parts. This first part contains pictures of the main grounds/backyard. I had never been to the Biltmore before, so its first impression for me was pretty surreal/dramatic. My parents and I opted out of the audio tour that the house offers and instead used my dad's history geekiness knowledge and the pamphlet given to us as our guide. I think the experience was better this way, because we got to go at our own pace and explore the parts that we were the most interested in. 

I can't really describe the house itself without just calling it absolutely crazy. It's crazy big. It's crazy beautiful. It's crazy luxurious. It's crazy that anyone was able to wake up in this house every single day of his/her life.

Looking around the grounds made my love for Asheville deepen, as I realized that George Washington Vanderbilt could not have picked a better place for his masterpiece estate. The weather is perfect, the views are worth more than the house itself(okay, maybe that's a stretch, but c'mon, it's gorgeous out here!), and the opportunities for flowers to bloom, crops to flourish, and the house to be mostly self-sufficient are almost endless. It's perfect.