The largest private home in America, visiting Biltmore House is a bit like visiting Versailles in terms of splendor and production. You take self guided tour through a mere 60 of the house's roughly 255 rooms, and get a good idea of what it meant to be really, really stinking incredibly filthy unbelievably rich 100 years ago. Maybe it's like that now too, but then again, the family does have to have the house open to the public in order to maintain it.

The place is massive; we particularly like the two story dark paneled library (though we would have furniture more conducive to curling up with a good book), the sunny three story atrium, the oval shaped bedrooms, and the indoor swimming pool which though empty just faintly rang with ghostly splashes.

Most impressive is the restoration job. From tiny scraps of wallpaper stuck behind door hinges and drapery brackets, a team of experts was able to recreate the period look of a room. It's archeology for HGTV.

We found the tour quite interesting, and took so much time on it that we weren't able to fit in any of the other things that are available on the estate, including the gardens, the old barns, the winery, horseback riding, and more. There is quite a bit to do at the place and we can see why it is such a serious attraction.

Acting like we own the joint.

We think it needs a splash of color.

GARGOYLE!!

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