Biltmore Estate

George Washington Vanderbilt II bilt Biltmore at the end of the 19th century while still a bachelor. I'm not quite sure how he was planning to use its 250 rooms, but I'm quite sure that this show of extravagance was exactly the point.

Biltmore

Located in Asheville, North Carolina, and still owned by his descendants, it's the largest privately owned house in the country. When GWV II's only child, Cornelia, died in 1976, her eldest son got to choose between the house or the estate. He chose the estate, which was the more profitable of the two at the time. I've no idea how the estate is faring now, but the house receives nearly a million visitors a year, each paying up to $60 just to get onto the property.

You may have seen the house in one of many movies including Richie Rich and Forrest Gump. We took a tour through the interior but weren't allowed to take photos. Not that this stopped a middle-aged American woman wearing tucked-in double denim and sporting the best bleached blond mullet you'll never see.

The most amazing feature of the house is its 265 cubic meter indoor swimming pool, which used to be pumped full of water from a nearby natural source. Given the lack of filtration or chlorination, it would be filled on demand, used and then drained. It even had underwater lighting, which is quite extraordinary given that plenty of folks probably didn't even have electricity at that point in time.

The extensive gardens around the house were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, considered the father of American landscape architecture. Amongst his most famous creations is Central Park in New York City.

Gardens

Once you've paid your entry fee, there are plenty of restaurants, shops and activities to keep your wallet busy. We settled for a couple of ice-creams for the long hot walk back to our car (there was a shuttle if you didn't want to attempt the five minute stroll).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Luckily we didn't order double scoops, because the servings shown above are supposedly single scoops. How that's even possible, I don't know. It must increase the demand for the shuttle bus.