Biltmore House, 2016 Christmas Candlelight Tour

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  Can you believe yet another year is about to come to a close?  I'm going to keep the talk to a minimum here, because I can't wait to share these pictures with you.  This year, we were allowed to take pictures inside the Biltmore House during the candlelight tour, and we were trés excited about this.  ;)  Of course, people weren't allowed to use a flash (understandably) and the lighting was a bit of a challenge, but I think Hal captured some amazing shots.  I took a bunch of pictures on my iPhone, but I haven't even looked at all those yet.  You might want to get a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, because this is a picture-heavy post. 

This is the entrance hall where we began our tour at 8:15 p.m.

Above and below is the staircase with its amazing three-story chandelier.

The next thing we saw was the Winter Garden.

I loved these candelabras.  The house was filled with candles, but they were all the battery-powered flameless kind.  It's great that these flameless candles look so real now; it really adds to the ambience without being a fire hazard.

A choral group was performing Christmas carols in the Winter Garden.

The next room on the tour is the Banquet Hall.

Here you can see the pipes for the pipe organ and a wooden frieze along the balcony.  This is a 35-foot Fraser Fir tree.

One of the tapestries in the Banquet Hall.

Presents under the big tree,

and some of the pretty ornaments gracing the tree.

This doll has the most beautiful face and hair -- she's exquisite.

On the dining table is a "small" replica of nearby, historic Biltmore Village.

These next two pictures are some of my favorites in the whole house.

Next up is the Breakfast Room (#WayBiggerThanMyDiningRoom).  😊

Those tapers look almost like real candles, don't they?

Gorgeous fireplace and mantel!  This is my other favorite picture. 

This is still the Breakfast Room.  Isn't this a cute child's tricycle?

Ceiling design outside the Breakfast Room.

There were several of these open seating areas throughout the house, and they were referred to as living halls.

In the background is an example of linenfold paneling on the wall.  This was seen frequently in fine English manor houses.  I think it's beautiful.

This is the music room.

This is a colorful ceiling and interesting artwork on the chimney breast.  To the right of the fireplace and below are a rare set of Meissen candlesticks representing the twelve apostles.

Whew, that was a lot of pictures!  I think it's very generous of the folks at Biltmore to allow the public to photograph inside.  I really enjoy being able to look back through the images at my leisure because there's a lot to see inside the house.  We were there over two hours, and we were moving along at a pretty good clip.

I hope you'll watch for the next Biltmore installment when I'll take you along through the Tapestry Gallery with its beautiful Nativity display,

and the amazing Library.  Thanks so much for visiting me today, and I hope you enjoyed seeing Biltmore by candlelight.  Have a great New Year's Eve, and be safe if you're out late.

Hugs XX,

Denise