Chasing Chihuly

This year our ‘bead camp’ happened to coincide with the exhibition of

Chihuly sculpture

Chihuly glass sculpture at the Biltmore Estate, and since I’m always up for an adventure, I was happy to go. Fall is a wonderful time in North Carolina, and this one was lovely, despite the threat of a hurricane. When it was time for us to go on the tour, the skies cleared and stayed that way. The temperatures were in the 70s and 80s, so everything was close to perfect. We visited the Chihuly exhibit first during the day, then came back at night – this turned out to be a spectacular plan.












The Biltmore Estate is almost 11 square miles that includes not only the private estate but also the tourist attraction. To put together the land for

Top L to R: Linnea at the Biltmore, Library, Sitting area,
Biltmore at night
Bottom L to R: Tapestries, Biltmore and Chihuly

the estate, Vanderbilt bought more than 50 farms and at least five cemeteries, including the community of Shiloh. The main residence, the Biltmore House, is a mansion built in the Châteauesque-style by George Washington Vanderbilt II in the later part of the 19^th century. Richard Morris Hunt, the architect, situated the four-story Indiana limestone-built home facing east with a 375-foot facade that reflected the shape of the mountains that can be seen behind the house. At 178,926 square feet of living area, it is the largest privately owned house in the United States. In order to enable such a massive venture, there were a woodworking factory and a brick kiln, producing 32,000 bricks a day, built on the property; also constructed was a three-mile long railroad spur so that materials could be moved to the building site. One of the innovations that came with the construction of the Biltmore House was electricity. However, since electricity was more of a fire danger at the time, six separate sections of the house were divided by brick fire walls. George Vanderbilt opened this amazing estate on Christmas Eve 1895 to family and friends. Over the years visitors have included authors Edith Wharton, and Henry James; ambassadors Joseph Hodges Choate and Larz Anderson; and Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama. This remarkable example of Gilded Age architecture is still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants.

By the early 1900s the estate began to change. With the imposition of the

Mountains behind the estate

income tax, the estate became getting harder to economically manage, spurring the sale of  87,000 acres to the federal government; this block of land became the heart of the Pisgah National Forest. The land that was left surrounding the house was being managed by Frederick Law Olmsted; he advised establishing farms along the river and replanting the rest as a commercial timber. A later manager, Carl A. Schenck, used the forests as a base for establishing the first forestry education program in the U.S. The Great Depression also took its toll on the estate’s financial situation, so in an attempt to raise money, one of the heirs opened the Biltmore to the public. This also supported the City of Asheville (Mountains of Art, Back to the Smokeys, Weaving to Weaverville, Heading to Hendersonville) in that the city fathers were making an effort to add a tourist attraction and to revitalize the area. The Biltmore closed during World War II, becoming a safe place for the storage of art work from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in case of an attack on the U.S. In 1963 the estate was designated a National Historic Landmark.

And with the Biltmore Estate as a wonderful backdrop, Dale Chihuly brought his artistry to North Carolina. If you’ve not heard of him, Chihuly

An array of Chihuly glass, day and night

is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur. His works are the gold standard in the field of blown glass. He began experimenting with glassblowing in 1965, receiving a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1966 where he completed a Master of Science degree in sculpture; he also acquired a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. He subsequently won grants and fellowships, including a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant, and a Fulbright Fellowship to Venice to work at the Venini factory on the island of Murano. It was at in Murano that he saw the team approach to blowing glass; this impelled him to experiment with this technique. Working with a team of master glassblowers and assistants has allowed Chihuly to produce architectural glass art of a scale and quantity unimaginable. What’s hard to gauge from pictures is the size of these glass instillations; they are immense. Chihuly's largest permanent exhibit is at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Although the pieces we saw were impressive during the day, they were magnificent at night. If there is another exhibit close to where I am you can bet I’ll be visiting the glass sculptures, again. CNN Travel shot a video of the workers putting the display together. It also shows Chihuly working with the glass. It’s pretty amazing.

An array of Chihuly glass at night

Of course, we ate well while we were in the Asheville/Black Mountain area. For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

More Chihuly glass at night

What we ate:

Four carrots

Black Mountain Bistro (203 E State St, Black Mountain, NC 28711, 828-

Salad with cheese, berries, and scallops

669-5041) is actually in an old house. They list items on their menu as ‘New American entrees along with sandwiches, burgers, and salads, plus a bar’. I’ve never had anything here that I didn’t like. There is plenty of food, served in an inspired manner, and with ingredients you might not have imagined. This time I had a salad with fresh berries and grilled scallops; it was amazing. Prices are good and service is excellent. With all of the wood in the house, it can get pretty noisy – and we are a loud group.

One of our favorite places didn’t disappoint again this year. My Father’s Pizza (110 Cherry St, Black Mountain, NC 28711, 828-669-4944) was as wonderful as we remembered. None of us can find another place anywhere that has a garlic-cheese pizza that matches the one we get here. The service is still great and the prices are good. What more could you want??

Three and one-half carrots

The Corner Kitchen (3 Boston Way, Asheville, NC 28803, 828-274-2439) is listed as ‘Set in a Victorian cottage with a patio, this upscale

Trout with potatoes, green beans, and sauce

venue serves New American fare and craft drinks’. It’s in a nice old house and the food is good, but nothing extraordinary. Since last year they have added some soundproofing, but it is still quite noisy. We did have an entertaining waiter who did a good job in keeping all of our orders straight – hard to do with more than a dozen people. I was able to split a plate with one of my friends, and we both got just exactly the amount we wanted. The food is nicely prepared, if a bit expensive.

Maureen and Cynthia play with a friend

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