Once you pass through the entrance way “Vestibule” into Biltmore House, you have entered a special place for Biltmore Floral Designer Mary Quirk.  This is the first space that guests see when coming into the home, like a foyer on a grand scale.  This year, Mary was responsible for the design of the Entrance Hall and Winter Garden.
Because the Vestibule has holiday decorations as well, connecting the two spaces was important from a design standpoint. 

“Molly and I worked together to make sure our plans were in harmony,” Mary said, describing how the two designers coordinated their décor so that guests would not feel an abrupt change as they moved between the Vestibule and the interior of Biltmore House. “I wanted to portray coziness upon entering a winter forest, so I used the same deciduous trees that you see in the Vestibule. Some of mine are in urns for a more formal touch, and I added sparkle with gold and silver ornaments.”  Other natural elements include a large grapevine tree with a fresh arrangement at its base and a large grapevine ball tied with sheer gold fabric. Mary added Asian honeysuckle twined through garlands to give the greenery more body and interest.

One of the major decorating challenges in this area is the breeze that sweeps through the massive front door when it’s opened for guests. Mary has to make everything secure so that nothing blows away.  Creating that signature ambiance in the evening is a challenge on breezy nights. “We’re trying battery-powered candles in some places near the entrance so that the candles stay lit during Candlelight Christmas Evenings and don’t blow out every time the door opens.”  It is that attention to every detail that creates Christmas magic in Biltmore House.   

In keeping with its original use as a conservatory setting to house exotic plants, the Winter Garden always features massive displays of poinsettias. Mary also used more deciduous trees and holly trees with berries to emphasize natural elements and bring the outdoors inside. “I grew up cutting pods and branches with my grandmother and spray painting them,” said Mary, “and we did some of that for Biltmore this year. I learned a lot from her, and I love having all this vast estate available to us for materials.”

Although Mary enjoys incorporating natural elements into her designs, she recognizes that all of the team members have different styles. “It’s a nice mix of people in the crew,” she said, “and each of us have preferences, from glitzy to natural and everything in between.” The designers rely on teamwork, especially since they all have multiple areas to decorate. 

In addition to the Entrance Hall and Winter Garden, Mary’s work can be seen in the Oak Sitting Room and at Antler Hill Village in The Creamery, Cedric’s Tavern, and the Winery.  “We are good resources for each other.”

When Edith Stuyvesant Dresser became Mrs. Vanderbilt in 1898, she added a special note of hospitality to holiday entertaining each year by organizing grand parties for estate employees. She ensured that all the children had gifts specially chosen for them, creating a tradition that we continue today.

According to Edith’s good friend, Anna Wheeler, Edith spent a great deal of time preparing for the holidays. “Mrs. Vanderbilt kept a book in which the individual presents were recorded yearly; her idea was to avoid duplication, but it served another purpose in assisting [her] in the better knowledge of each family.  It was just another example of her predominate kindness and her executive ability.  Mrs. Vanderbilt did the buying, and labeling and wrapping of all those many gifts.  As far as possible they were bought in Asheville soon after the first of October.  One of the west tower rooms assumed the appearance of a Santa Claus storage place.”

In keeping with this holiday tradition, our team was busy packing Christmas gifts over the last week for our annual employee party tonight.  Hundreds of gift bags were carefully stuffed with toys for each age group.  They spend months in preparation, looking for presents for children of our employees.   And while the gift list looks very different than the 1897 list below, the joy of carrying on the Christmas spirit at Biltmore is the same.

A gift list from Christmas 1897 reads:

60lbs cut rock candy
2 boxes of oranges
6 balls
5 red balls
10 baskets
22 rubber toys
1 dozen dolls
2 sets dishes
5 doll carriages
6 chimes
2 clowns
3 horns
1 drum
1 train
1 gun
1 wagon
1 bicycle
1 harp
120 candle holders
5 cakes
12 gallons cream

For more than 20 years, Gloria Brank has been decorating Biltmore House for Christmas. In her role as Floral Department Supervisor, she’s also instrumental in organizing the design and installation of Christmas at Biltmore displays across the entire estate, including shops, restaurants, and Antler Hill Village & Winery.

“I’ve decorated almost every room in Biltmore House except Louis XV,” Gloria said, thinking back over all the planning sessions and themes she’s seen. “But I have the Library again this year, and it’s always my favorite.”

For Gloria, this year’s “Nature of Christmas” theme led her to look upward, to the beautiful ceiling canvas painted by Pelligrini that soars high overhead in George Vanderbilt’s lofty library. Known as The Chariot of Aurora, the painting symbolizes the coming of dawn and features angels and cherubs.

“As I thought about our theme,” Gloria explained, “I wanted to interpret the room with the angels announcing the birth of Christ.” 

Gloria focused on the rich hues of the painting and the warm reds and dark walnut tones that characterize the Library to create an opulent, Renaissance-style decorative scheme that highlights the layers of color and texture throughout the room.  And while planning the design of her room took a lot of time, her primary focus was managing the process of decorating for the estate as a whole.  That task starts at the beginning of each year, just as decorations are coming down.

“So much of what we do is in the planning stages,” Gloria said. “We walk through Biltmore House in January while the decorations are still in place and we start thinking about the following year. We begin to get a core of an idea and we work with that, keeping it in mind while we’re thinking about what elements we have and what we might need to purchase or create.

“By May, we’re pretty set on what our rooms and areas will look like, and we work with our curators to locate existing screws and nail heads to see how we can implement our designs without damaging anything in Biltmore House—or making any new holes in the walls!

“In June, we go over all the logistics, like where power outlets are located and how many power strips we’ll need. All the tree and garland lights are on timers so that our Candlelight Christmas Evening hosts don’t have to worry about getting each room glowing at the appropriate time. After that, we focus on creating silk arrangements and special decorations and adornments—and getting all that Christmas décor hidden away inside the house until we’re ready to start decorating in October.”

“I guess I’m just not a poinsettia person,” Lucinda Ledford said, “nor an amaryllis person, either. That’s why I went in for so many roses.” Lucinda’s affection for roses may have earned her the name “Rose Queen” from her team members in Biltmore’s Floral Department, but that’s okay with her. “I’m still in awe of Christmas at Biltmore,” Lucinda continued. “Everything is so beautiful and there’s so much choice—it’s overwhelming!”

With just seven months under her belt, Lucinda is the newest designer on Biltmore's design team and this is her first time to get up close and personal with the holiday decorating process.

“It was wonderful to partner with Susan Partain on the Music Room,” Lucinda said of her experience with another floral designer who’s been part of the team for many years. “She was so knowledgeable, and it was a great learning experience. We took our theme from The Holly and The Ivy Christmas carol and worked in lots of natural elements, with plenty of reds and greens, just like the song describes.”

Some of the greenery that Susan and Lucinda used was taken from trees and shrubs on the estate, just as the Vanderbilts and their staff might have done in 1895. Biltmore’s floral team has “cutting privileges” in the gardens and among the trees, and they take their job seriously, being careful not to overcut branches or harm fragile plantings.

For the Damask Room, Lucinda dreamed up a design that reflected what this year’s theme meant to her personally. “Christmas is all about family and friends,” she said, “so to decorate the tree, I collected lots and lots of picture frames and put snapshots in them. I tried to find candid shots of the Vanderbilt family, and Cornelia Cecil and her sons. In one of their travel photos, Mr. Vanderbilt is making a funny face while everyone else looks serious.”

To add natural elements that also worked with this year's “Nature of Christmas” theme, Lucinda used floral touches composed of dark oxblood red roses and fresh greenery. She completed the warm, welcoming look for this guest bedroom by including a candy tray featuring sweets that were popular in the late 1800s. Lucinda searched online for different candies from that era, then printed the wrappers and made up the candy bars so the treats would look authentic.  It is those extra details that make these holiday designs so unique.

“When guests come through in awe,” Lucinda said of her decorating experience this first year, “it lets you know you did it right!”