Cirrus' 2019 North Carolina Series:
Earlier this year I posted a brief series of threads with a hodgepodge of cellphone and otherwise questionable-quality photos of NC cities. Here's the long-delayed final part, Asheville, and the good news is the photos are all new and all with a real camera.
The bad news for you Tar Heel aficionados is that this series will not include Charlotte. Despite 5 separate visits to North Carolina in 2019, I have not been to Charlotte since 2010. If you're itching to see decade-old photos,
have at. Otherwise, continue below.
Here's Asheville
When I say Asheville is the best city in North Carolina, I am serious in that opinion. I think Asheville's urbanity--and by that I mean the factors contributing to a walkable urban form with a lot of vitality--are higher quality there than anywhere else in the state, including Charlotte.
We'll cover
downtown, a few
transit photos,
Biltmore Village, and finally
Biltmore itself, focusing on the gardens.
You'll see that Asheville is small. There's not that much of it. But what there is, is great.
Two squares:
Downtown Asheville revolves around a pair of public plazas, only two blocks apart but dramatically different in feel.
To the west, the tiny triangular Pritchard Park is a big part of what makes Asheville unique in North Carolina. The plaza itself has a Colorado-esque vibe, with a mountain-themed layout and grungy characters straight out of Boulder.
Surrounding the plaza the shops trend towards touristy, but the irregular web of streets and solid low-rise streetwall feel like nothing so much as a slice out of a Boston collegetown neighborhood.
Two blocks east, Pack Square is the more institutional center of town. It's got the government buildings, the bank skyscrapers, the business hotels, and to remind you you're still in the Carolinas, a prominent Confederate memorial.
Although the more indie element is attempting annexation.
Transit:
For a small southern US city, Asheville appears to have respectable bus service. Nothing like a big northern city of course, but better than the underfunded afterthought that it is most southern cities of comparable size.
There's a nice downtown hub station.
And electric buses. Which I have mixed feelings about but if nothing else at least mean they're not completely starved for money.
Biltmore Village:
Two miles south of downtown, near the entrance to Biltmore estate, there's a sort of uptown called Biltmore Village. It's charming in the faux-cute way that New Urbanism is charming, except it's not new. These buildings were built to look old, but they've now become old.
Biltmore Estate:
Biltmore Estate is the closest thing to a baroque French chateau in America. The castle is probably the most famous castle in America, and if you care about formal European-style gardens (I do), its grounds are equally well-known.
I, um, neglected to take the famous front-on photo of the castle that everyone takes. So forgive me for giving you one picture from the internet, to remind you of where we are. You have seen some version of this photo before:
Photo by Jennifer Boyer via Flickr. All other photos in this post are mine.
Let me throw you some photos of the castle and get them out of the way, because I personally care a lot more about the garden (further down).
The castle is wonderful.
But since I'm a planner not an architect, I'm more drawn to the more public space, the gardens. I have a particular avidity for formal gardens. I have a map of every formal garden in the US that I know about, and I will travel far out of my way to see a good one. Biltmore is the most famous formal garden in America.
I suppose I should say that I do not think it's the
best formal garden in America. Top five, yes probably, but I'd rank at least Philadelphia's Longwood and DC's Dumbarton as better. Maybe more.
The front lawn is grand.
The South Terrace is better. Here the castle frames an excellently proportioned walled outdoor room, with what I think are the best statues in Biltmore.
Sadly the terrace is somehow incomplete. I don't know the story. But it's too empty; there should be a parterre here.
A trellis lines the exterior wall of the South Terrace, making for a soft transition between the terrace and the Shrub Garden (an informal section of the gardens that are more like a typical American park).
Descend some steps, go through a stone gate, and you are inside the Walled Garden. Here at last is the parterre. It needs shade; everyone stays inside the trellis.
Down a level to the Rose Garden:
And at the bottom of the hill, the Conservatory:
Go back up the hill, nearer the castle, and find the Italian Garden. This is, overall, the best part of the gardens. The statues are hokier than elsewhere, but the space is nicely filled.
End up back at the castle.
Fin.
