Experience Our Annual Biltmore Blooms Celebration Posted on March 27, 2021 at 12:00 am.Written by designsensory Enjoy this archived Biltmore Blooms content from Spring 2021! Experience our annual Biltmore Blooms celebration across the estate as winter loosens its grip to make way for spring! Gardens and grounds From the earliest flowering shrubs and vivid blooms in the Walled Garden–including this year’s colorful kaleidoscope of yellow, white, pink, purple, and red tulips in the patterned beds–to the glorious progression of color along the Approach Road, we’ve been delighting guests with our annual Biltmore Blooms celebration for more than three decades. The Approach Road to Biltmore House is lined with azaleas each spring The splendid spring show isn’t limited to the outdoors, however; our Floral and Museum Services teams have worked together to develop an “Art in Bloom” theme featuring beautiful arrangements throughout Biltmore House. Inspired by Biltmore’s collections “This year for Biltmore Blooms we are celebrating the fact that George Vanderbilt envisioned Biltmore not just as a home, but also as a platform to showcase the incredible works of art he collected,” said Leslie Klingner, Curator of Interpretation. “Vanderbilt developed a passion for art early in life,” Leslie said,” and he amassed an impressive collection. To highlight some of these amazing pieces, our floral team has created designs inspired by works throughout Biltmore House.” Art in Bloom “Each year during Biltmore Blooms, our floral designs reflect not only the welcome return of spring, but they also showcase the scale and grandeur of America’s Largest Home®,” said Lizzie Borchers, Floral Displays Manager. Floral designer Cristy Leonard creating a larger-than-life arrangement for the Third Floor Living Hall (design inspired by a painting of a ship in that room) “For ‘Art in Bloom’ in 2021, we envisioned flowers as the paints, pastels, and pencils of spring, turning our arrangements into works of art themselves,” Lizzie said. “When you visit this season, see how our designs highlight the colors, textures, shapes, and forms in the artwork.” A sneak peek at Biltmore Blooms details! In the Breakfast Room, Biltmore floral designer Lucinda Ledford drew inspiration from two works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Young Boy with an Orange, painted in 1881, and The Young Algerian Girl, painted in 1882. The vibrant colors of Renoir’s “Child with Orange” painting inspired the details of this floral arrangement for the Breakfast Room Giovanni Boldini’s lovely 1910 portrait of Edith Vanderbilt that hangs in the Tapestry Gallery near the entrance to the Library inspired floral designer Jodee Mitchell to create a sweeping arrangement featuring delicate white flowers and greenery. Design sketch for a Biltmore Blooms arrangement featuring lilies of the valley and other white flowers, inspired by Giovanni Boldini’s stunning portrait of Edith Vanderbilt Based on the series of mid-16th-century Renaissance tapestries detailing the history of Roman mythological gods and goddesses in Biltmore’s Banquet Hall, floral designer Cristy Leonard developed a glorious spring centerpiece befitting the massive table in that room. Cristy carefully selects each element in an enormous Biltmore Blooms floral arrangement for the Banquet Hall table These are just a few of the wonderful arrangements in Biltmore House this spring; there are countless others to discover! Experience Biltmore Blooms this spring Visit now and enjoy spring across our 8,000 acres! Experience all the excitement of Biltmore Blooms included with your daytime admission to Biltmore. Make required Biltmore House reservations now while your preferred dates and times are still available, and experience the spectacular seasonal show in our historic gardens. In addition to Biltmore Blooms, enjoy the delights of Biltmore Gardens Railway in the Conservatory and Stickwork by Patrick Dougherty in Antler Hill Village, also included in daytime admission.
Biltmore Gardens Railway: A Structural Comparison Posted on July 7, 2019 at 1:10 pm.Written by designsensory Twice a year, the Conservatory is transformed into a wonderland of creativity. Discover Biltmore Gardens Railway, featuring miniature estate landmark replicas made of all-natural materials gathered from Biltmore’s grounds. Biltmore Gardens Railway brings an elaborate G-scale railway with locomotives, rail cars, and handmade buildings to life by connecting them to Biltmore and its founder George Vanderbilt. Working from original plans, drawings, and photographs of the estate, a team from Applied Imagination constructs the replicas in a stunningly accurate reimagining of Biltmore. Let’s take an up-close look at the attention to detail paid to the recreations of these historic structures. Image 1: Photograph of the Lodge Gate from George Vanderbilt’s collection, ca. 1900 Image 2: Applied Imagination’s recreation, on display in the Conservatory’s Exhibition Room About the Lodge Gate Recreation Materials collected from the estate: horse chestnut, magnolia leaves, pine bark, hickory nuts, lotus pods, contorted Filbert, bamboo, winged bean, pine cone scales, and acorn caps Dimensions: 28”x22”x15” Time to complete: 275+ hours Image 1: Photograph of the Conservatory from George Vanderbilt’s collection, ca. 1910 Image 2: Applied Imagination’s recreation, on display in the Conservatory’s Orchid Room About the Conservatory Recreation Materials collected from the estate: horse chestnut, pine bark, anise, honeysuckle, ash, winged euonymus, contorted Filbert, and oak bark Dimensions: 21”x52”x14” Time to complete: 350+ hours Image 1: Photograph of Biltmore House from George Vanderbilt’s collection, ca. 1910 Image 2: Applied Imagination’s recreation, on display in the Conservatory’s Palm House About the Biltmore House Recreation Materials collected from the estate: baby acorns, acorn caps, star anise, pine cone, contorted Filbert, grapevine, honeysuckle, eucalyptus leaves, bamboo, ash bark, oak bark, and elm bark Dimensions: 66”x122”x55” Time to complete: 1700+ hours Visit Biltmore Gardens Railway The enchantment of Biltmore Gardens Railway is a semi-annual event at Biltmore. Check our event listing for upcoming dates and plan your visit today!