Biltmore Estate
Another Internship
In an amazing pocket where weird meets extreme, nestled in one of the oldest mountain ranges, in none other than Asheville, North Carolina is the Biltmore Estate. Asheville, NC has had a lasting impact that will forever warm my heart and fill my memory with the scent of Abelia. The BEST smelling plant of all time - your heard me roses!
Most people are wowed by the main house, of course. And it is quiet a marvel, but the basement whose walls were painted by the bored original owners and guests trippin’ on LSD, is my favorite room in the whole house. Which is saying something, because there’s something like 249 rooms altogether. It’s my favorite because in the basement is where they have historical photographs of the planning, making and constructing of the house and grounds displayed. That’s where the magnitude on this whole operation begins to really set in. Don’t get me wrong, the house tour is a must for an first timer, but more out of obligation. Things can really start to get interesting on the estate outside of the house walls.
The Biltmore Estate was FLO’s swan song. You don’t know FLO?! Frederick Law Olmsted, credited as the father of landscape architecture. The dude who designed Central Park, the good looking side of Niagara Falls, the Emerald Green Necklace in Boston, many other noteworthy parks - fellow Buckeyes, his son’s design the OSU oval! How do you not know this guy? I guess he’s only a celebrity in the landscaping circles? Regardless, his influence still impacts our landscapes today. For example, have you ever noticed in older neighborhoods in the Midwest, there’s always English ivy growing up the trees - Olmsted, specifically a move he did at the Biltmore to make the entrance drive look and feel more lush and wild. So now you know who’s name to curse when you try to get rid of the english ivy choking out your trees….another favorite, running bamboo - Olmsted, again at the Biltmore. One of the first to introduce bamboo into the US. No one is perfect right, we all make some mistakes to lead us to our successes, right?! He did do some very big positive things as well. He was a huge advocate for green spaces in urban areas. Okay, maybe that isn’t the best example since that has a rather dark history. And this post really isn’t supposed to be a post about FLO. So do you’re own research.
Biltmore his last project and where he advocated for his vision of a Forestry Department. There is a small plaque, easily missed especially if one is not even looking for it, on a foot path from one of the parking lots on the way towards the NE gate, on the way towards the main house. Like I said, easy to miss! But it commemorates the beginning of the Forestry Department and Pinchot who played an integral part in getting the US federal government behind it.
The Biltmore Estate still houses its own Arborist department and they have one of the coolest jobs on the whole estate. They venture ALL over, not just the spots open to the tourists, but to all the back roads too. And they have the best stories, because they get to see it all. Over the years they’ve found all kinds of weird stuff. One that sticks out most in my memory was when they were taking down an old tree somewhere out in the sheep pasture and inside the tree was an old iron tree guard! The iron tree guard had been put around the tree sometime in its infancy and the TREE grew through it, slowly over the of many many years! Trees are so cool. It was just sitting inside the hollowed cavity of the tree, not attached to anything. Pretty wild. I’m kicking myself for not being able to remember what kind of tree it was, but I’m sure the arborist mentioned it.
The entrance drive, where Olmsted did the English ivy growing up the tree move, is a long and unnecessarily winding road for very purposeful dramatic effect. You’re doing your Sunday drive to what is suppose to feel like the deep woods and your distracted by all the surrounding natural beauty (but its not actually natural, its manipulated to look untouched) and then BAM! There isn’t even an opening in the trees, this gate just appears and as soon as you go through it, its wide open and this huge grand castle is right on top of you. It is very dramatic.
The strolling garden, just above the walled garden, is another don’t miss favorite for all those plant lovers out there. There are some magnificent specimen trees and unusual shrubs in this area. On a more recent visit, I was sad to learn that the towering purple leaf beech was no more. But the Japanese Maples were all looking amazing, healthy and happy. And good old Snuffaluffagus was still on a rockn’ (aka Atlas Cedar).
If you ever happen to find yourself at the Biltmore, it’s worth taking the time to walk down past the gardener’s cottage to the bass pond. One. there’s shade! Two, the trail leads behind the pond to another bamboo grove and if the water is high enough, a waterfall….yes a man made waterfall, but its still a cool spot.
