With the rush of holiday shopping and the frenzy of preparations for guests, it’s easy to forget the magic and splendor of the holiday season. But a two-hour road trip to the Biltmore House in Asheville during its Christmas at Biltmore celebration, which runs through Jan. 1, is just the thing to revive the holiday spirit.

Located on 8,000 acres, the 250-room house was built for the Vanderbilt family with Indiana limestone and was opened for the first time for family and friends on Christmas Eve,1895. Christmas is still a magical time at the Biltmore, even though members of the Vanderbilt family quit living there in the 1950s. The house remains much as it was when the Vanderbilts lived there, decorated with original furnishings.

While schoolchildren and tourists fill its hallways throughout the year, no time is more popular than November and December, when the annual Christmas at Biltmore and candlelight evening tours easily engage the imagination.

From Biltmore’s entry vestibule to the billiard room, each year’s holiday decorating theme surprises and delights. The special events, floral, marketing and curatorial staffs sit down at the start of each year to begin crafting their vision for the upcoming Christmas at Biltmore, working to make each year unique.

Guiding principles
“We do not try to interpret a Victorian or turn-of-the-century Christmas at Biltmore, but we take our inspiration from that period,” says Cathy Barnhardt, the floral displays manager, who grew up in Asheville and studied horticulture and landscape design so that she could work at the Biltmore. “We do want to create a sense of era, but we can’t say this is exactly how it looked when George Vanderbilt opened Biltmore House.”

After discussing the theme within the larger group, a walk-through of the house allows all the designers to begin envisioning how the theme might come to life while choosing which rooms they personally want to decorate. Although they reuse ornaments and decorations as much as possible, they often have to hit the markets to pick up new items that suit the theme. This year’s “Arts” theme celebrates the artwork featured throughout the house, including Renoir’s “Child with an Orange” and “The Young Algerian Girl.”

“In past years, we have done a more natural theme, and this year we wanted to go in a more formal direction. We will pick up on more of the classical elements of the artwork in the home, and the house itself as a work of art,” Barnhardt says.

Past themes have included “Hearth and Home,” which used natural elements, such as hydrangeas, roses and peacock feathers, to decorate the more than 30 trees that fill the house, and “Musical Christmas,” in which each room’s inspiration was taken from a classic carol.

This year’s emphasis
“This year the trees will be decorated in gold and silver. We will have formal V crests made out of moss and foliage instead of wreaths,” Barnhardt says.

The tropical plants that often soften the winter garden will be moved to reveal the space’s crisp marble while giving it a cleaner, more classical look. Still, past visitors will recognize some holiday traditions at the house.

Because some early Christmases at the Biltmore were captured in newspapers, other documents and oral histories, Barnhardt and her staff do have some favorites they incorporate annually. While some might think the gifts found hanging on the banquet hall’s 35-foot tree are just ornamental, Barnhardt and her crew are actually capturing history with that presentation. The Vanderbilts were known for presenting each of their employees and every child of an employee with a gift every Christmas. Gifts hung on the large Christmas tree until it was time to give them away. The baskets of oranges under the tree recall the oranges Edith Vanderbilt gave out each year.

“The gingerbread house is one of the traditions created in the last 30 years,” Barnhardt says. “Our bakers at Deerpark restaurant create it. They put their own little twist into it each year with the theme in mind.”

All of these details and more – including the carolers and musicians performing throughout the house, the luminaria that light the night, the rich, textured garlands and the 750 poinsettias – combine to create an experience that delights all the senses.

Want to Go?
Visit www.biltmore.com for more information and to purchase tickets for daytime or evening tours. On busy days, guests are given a reserved time to enter the house. This year, those days include Nov. 23 and 24 and Dec. 1, 8, 15 and 22-31. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Candlelight evenings begin at 5:30 p.m.Want to make an event of it? Spend the night at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, and enjoy estate-raised cuisine at the Bistro.