June Squares – Some Ornate Roofs!

Here are my final entries for Becky’s June Squares; the roofs at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC and the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Coincidentally we are currently looking at bids on a new roof for our house but I don’t think it will end up looking anything like these.  For more on Becky’s June Squares go to An official residence

 

Travel Theme – Steps

I’ve gone from doors to steps with Ailsa’s Travel Theme challenge.  Arriving at the top of the steps; sometimes steps can be quite a challenge, such as these seen here at Copper Falls State Park in Mellen, Wisconsin, especially after a long hike, to which my husband can attest. He did just that, a few weeks before knee replacement surgery this spring.

Going up the steps at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

Coming down the steps at Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.

Beautiful steps at the old Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

For more on Ailsa’s Travel Theme challenge at Where’s My Backpack go to https://wheresmybackpack.com/2017/09/19/travel-theme-steps/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Bathrooms

Well, this was a challenge and no mistake!  I’m not usually in the habit of taking pictures of bathrooms except when visiting houses of historical interest and it would appear that way back in the day, bathrooms weren’t necessarily high on the agenda.  Still, I’m not one to shirk a challenge and, trawling through the old photo files, I finally came up with a few images that I thought might qualify for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.

Out of all the 42 bathrooms at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, it’s incredible to me that this was only one that I seemed to have photographed. Was I not paying attention?

Glensheen Mansion in Duluth was a little more productive on the bathroom front.  One thing about these old houses, they had some decent sized tubs!

The bathroom at the Cuneo Mansion in Vernon Hills was a little more elaborate.  I guess in future I’ll have to be a bit more aware of my surroundings, although I’m not sure that whipping the camera out the next time I’m in a public convenience wouldn’t get me arrested.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bathrooms or Outhouses

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Furniture

The subject for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is furniture.   What you see in the following images is anything but ‘just part of the furniture.‘  I love ornate furniture like these chairs and table at The Hotel Chequamegon in Ashland, Wisconsin, although they are not necessarily designed for comfort.  Of course you would need the right kind of house in which to put them.  And I definitely wouldn’t want the job of dusting them every day.

Now, if you owned a place like Biltmore House in Asheville, you would need plenty of fancy furniture to fill all those rooms, like these beautiful pieces in the Salon.

In Mr. Vanderbilt’s bedroom.

In the Van Dyck Room

And in the Morland Room.

Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota also has it’s share of fine furniture, although maybe not on quite such a grand scale.

And furniture at the Cuneo Mansion in Vernon Hills, Illinois is certainly worth seeing.

 

 

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Furniture, Tables, Chairs, Sofa, etc.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Pots and Pans

Cee has given us quite a choice for her Fun Foto Challenge this week, ranging from pots and pans to dishes and silverware, none of which feature heavily in my photo files.   I really must widen my field of subjects. Who knew pictures of my old Pyrex dishes might come in handy some day! However, I did come across one picture that I thought might work.

The pots and pans in the kitchens of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville are quite impressive.  The service area of the house is located in the basement and includes the main kitchen, pastry kitchen and rotisserie kitchen as well as walk-in refrigerators and a laundry room.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Dishes, Pots, Pans, Silverware

Thursday Doors – Remembering Brian Rix

Many years ago, (far more than I care to remember) when I was growing up in England, there was a form of entertainment that was known, in theatrical terms, as farce. The leading performer of those hilarious comedy shows at the time was Brian Rix, and for more than twenty-six years he and his wife Elspet Gray entertained audiences at Whitehall Theater and other theaters in London and around the country.   The plot usually involved a lot of running in and out of doors, mostly in the bedroom.  I don’t ever remember hearing any swearing in these shows, there was never anything smutty and the biggest laugh invariably came when the gentleman dropped his trousers (in the nicest possible way, of course) usually at a most inopportune moment.  How I miss those light-hearted performances.  So I thought I’d dedicate these bedroom doors to the memory of Brian Rix and all the laughs he gave us over the years.

Bedroom doors at the Biltmore Estate, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Bedroom doors at the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.

For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2016/12/01/thursday-doors-december-1-2016/

 

Thursday Doors – Asheville NC

Featuring Asheville in North Carolina for Norm’s Thursday Doors this week.  The first image shows the doors of the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Asheville. The second is the aptly decorated library door at the Biltmore Estate and the third shows the doors leading from the terrace at the Vanderbilt’s stunning home. For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/thursday-doors-october-27-2016/

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Chairs

Cee’s subject for her Black & White Photo Challenge this week is Any Seating Including Tables & Chairs.  I discovered an ornate wrought iron chair in the greenhouse at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and thought it would be perfect for this challenge. Not very comfortable to sit on but very pretty to look at.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2016/08/11/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-any-seating-including-tables-and-chairs/

The Art Of Biltmore

 

Everything about the house at Biltmore is a work of art. You can hardly take a step without seeing something that makes you stop in your tracks and say “Wow!”  Whether it be a painting, sculpture or tapestry, every inch of Biltmore is filled with the finest examples of such work.

The library is a masterpiece in itself.  From the magnificent ceiling depicting The Chariot of Aurora, painted by Giovanni Pellegrini in the 1720’s for the Pisani Palace in Venice, down to the whimsical motif on one of the interior doors and the beautifully carved wooden steps, this is a book-lovers paradise! The books on display, many of them 1st editions, are only one half of the 23,000 volume collection amassed by George Vanderbilt.

The Tapestry Gallery contains three from a set of seven Flemish tapestries from the 1530’s known as The Triumph of the Seven Virtues, representing Charity, Faith and Prudence.

George Vanderbilt could obviously afford the very best when it came to family portraits and there are many of these to be seen throughout the house, painted by such notable artists as Giovanni Boldini and John Singer Sargent.

Sargent was also commissioned to paint portraits of Biltmore’s architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Unlike the classical pieces of artwork that fill every corner of the house, The Halloween Room, located in the basement, contains impromptu paintings done by family and friends for a New Year’s Eve party in 1925.

Outdoors, the statuary in the gardens and on the terraces adds to the overall artistry of the landscape design and at the shop attached to the conservatory you can even purchase your own little piece of artwork.