Late last week, my husband and I drove to the Asheville area to visit his sister and see the Christmas display at Biltmore House.

We’ve been there before, several times, in fact, but this is the first time we’ve visited during the holiday season. And it was totally worth the trip.

The crew that runs the house and grounds goes all out with the decorating and the results are impressive. Every fireplace mantel bears an elaborate arrangement and each room has at least one tree, including Mr. Vanderbilt’s and Mrs. Vanderbilt’s bedrooms.

Because the place has its own greenhouse/orangery as well as rooms dedicated to floral arrangements, fresh flowers and live plants are an integral part of the décor. Not all the trees are live and not all of the decorations are either, but according to a docent we asked, a large portion are.

And they don’t decorate the same way each year. In fact, there was a definite theme this year.  I’ll look at that in a future post. But all of the décor was beautifully and tastefully presented, with the theme included in sometimes novel ways. Meanwhile, enjoy a few pictures.  (Click on the picture to bring up a larger image.)