Christmas at Biltmore with DaVinci

The Biltmore Estate at Christmas is truly an event that has to put you into the Christmas spirit. If you don’t live near Asheville, NC where the estate is located, or you can’t travel there this Christmas, I hope you will enjoy this glimpse of the Biltmore at Christmas. Each year the decorations are different and the staff spend hours and hours, beginning in October, putting the many displays together. The picture above is the first “room” you see on entering the house. The white and green palate was lovely and spacious. The poinsettia are kept in the Conservatory on the property and brought into the house from there.

Biltmore is also hosting the DaVinci exhibit which we went to see after viewing the house. It was quite something and I’ll show you more of that later.

The great dining room has a huge fireplace that runs along one wall of the room. There is a 35 foot tree that is replaced at least once during the holiday season. It takes 50 staff to bring it in and right and secure it in the room.

In the same room are sleighs piled with presents and more presents are gathered under the tree for lucky boys and girls. Oranges were a staple of Christmas at the Biltmore and a rare treat at the time.

Beautifully decorated trees are in every room that you pass through. They are also in hallways and it’s not uncommon to have several trees in one room. Period furnishings fill each room and you are able to imagine you are a guest of the family as you see how they celebrated Christmas.

Chandeliers, mantles and posts are all decorated and each one is unique. It’s such fun to see all the different ways they use ribbon and ornaments and floral picks in the decorations.

A replica of the Biltmore House is made each year by the pastry chefs on the estate and displayed in the kitchen. It is beautifully rendered and quite accurate. You can see the lions that are seated at the entrance to the house with their bright red wreaths adorning them for the holidays.

We had fun looking through the stable shops next to the house and then proceeded to the DaVinci exhibit located on another part of the estate. DaVinci is a name everyone knows and he was a true Renaissance man with expertise in painting, sculpture, human anatomy and, of course, the many inventions and machines he made during his lifetime. The exhibit chronicles major points of his life and death.

The exhibit is a multi media presentation with a great musical score and a component part that shows many replicas of his machines and paintings. This is La Gioconda, Mona Lisa, as it is commonly known. The images show the paintings in their complete form as well as close-ups of various parts of the painting.

He was anabsolute genius with accomplishments in so many areas. I’m concentrating here on his paintings as they are magnificent.

This is a section of a larger painting.

Another piece of a painting. He and his fellow artists were masters of the human form. His contemporaries are equally well know. Michelangelo, of course, is one of the most famous.

We had a wonderful time at the exhibit. Afterwards we went for a wine tasting and then a late lunch to finish off the day. I am fortunate to live less than an hour away so we are frequent visitors to the estate in every season. If you haven’t been, I hope you have the opportunity to visit. It is the largest single family home in the United States and the property is lovely in every season. The Christmas exhibit runs through January. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.