At the end of the last post I said that I’d probably revisit this later. I forgot that those photos were all just from the family’s living area and where they entertained. I have photos from the lower stories where there are recreation facilities and the servants’ domain. So here’s another post.

We followed instructions from our audio tour to go downstairs. This staircase is not as elegant as the staircases in the family area.

The Halloween Room is on the lowest level. The room was originally used for storage, but in the 1920’s Cornelia (daughter of George and Edith) and her husband painted the room for a New Year’s Eve Party. It became known as the Halloween Room because of the colors and some of the motifs painted on the walls.

It currently includes displays about building the Biltmore House.

There is a two-lane bowling alley on the lower level.

There is a hallway with several dressing rooms so that women guests could change into bathing costumes.

The pool was heated and still has the original underwater lighting.

This is a corner of the gymnasium.

A view of the main kitchen.

The large stove in the corner of the kitchen.

This is one of several rooms off the main servants’ hall. In this room floral displays and plant decorations were prepared.

After touring the house we explored the grounds a bit more.

There were several trails around the gardens and going about 1/4 mile to the Bass Pond. This bridge is along that trail.

We drove to the area known as Antler Hill Village. There are farm animals, a playground, and demonstrations of some of the crafts practiced in the early 1900’s. We spoke to a blacksmith…

…and a weaver.

Our last stop before things closed was the Gardens Railway.

There were several model trains running through this garden. The buildings are models of famous landmarks around the world, all constructed of natural materials found on the estate.

There is so much more to see at the estate. If I ever go back to North Carolina, I wouldn’t mind stopping there again.

It was time to get on the road. We headed towards Nashville.