One-tank trip: Biltmore: Decking these halls is a yearlong effort

For many of us, the day after Thanksgiving signals it’s time for holiday decorating. Some see this seasonal transition as a daunting task —- the tangled Christmas lights, the ornaments that spontaneously broke into pieces while stored in the attic. But what if you had to decorate a home with 250 rooms? And what if you were expecting 300,000 holiday visitors to drop by to admire your handiwork?

For Cathy Barnhardt, floral design staff supervisor at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., that’s just another day at the office. Planning holiday decorations for the palatial French Renaissance chateau that was once home to the wealthy Vanderbilt family is a year-round job, and Barnhardt’s been doing it for 31 years.

Since she’s decking the halls of America’s largest privately owned home, now a museum, Barnhardt started preparing for this year’s holiday theme, “Christmas Traditions from around the World,” in January.

George W. Vanderbilt, the Biltmore’s original owner, had a passion for travel, and he collected art and antiques befitting his grand country manor almost everywhere he went. This holiday season the Biltmore showcases Christmas traditions from many of the countries Vanderbilt visited, with a special focus on his European tours.

Barnhardt said transforming the house into a multicultural holiday masterpiece was fun but labor intensive, requiring several teams of floral designers and other staff to hang 25,000 lights, drape 9,000 feet of garland, place 400 poinsettias and decorate 53 Christmas trees.

“It’s been an interesting challenge blending all these traditions,” Barnhardt said. “We have visitors from around the world that come to Biltmore, and we want our theme to translate to hospitality to those guests as they come and see a little of their Christmas traditions inside the house.”

The Library. The holiday decor in the walnut-paneled library was inspired by the long-standing Christmas traditions of France. Through her research, Barnhardt learned that early French Christmas trees represented the tree in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden and were decorated with symbols of God’s creation. The library tree is adorned with angels, small animals and seashells to represent heaven, earth and sea.

In French homes a Christmas creche, or Nativity scene, is often more of a focal point than the tree. In keeping with that custom, a Nativity scene is prominently displayed in the library.

The placement of decorations is intended to attract guests’ attention to some of the room’s most interesting features. Star-studded garland hanging from the balcony draws the eye to the magnificent ceiling painting, Pellegrini’s “The Chariot of Aurora,” which depicts the dawn and symbolizes the light of learning. The 13 canvases originally adorned the Pisani Palace in Venice.

> The Chippendale Bedroom. The Italian Christmas theme in the Chippendale Bedroom may leave American children thinking Italians don’t know the difference between Christmas and Halloween. In Italy, gifts are not delivered by a jolly man in a sleigh, but by an old crone on a broom known as La Befana. She arrivess on Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, delivering candy and gifts to good children and coal to naughty little rascals. In a nod to this Italian holiday folklore, a collection of these witchlike gift givers is displayed in the Chippendale Bedroom.

> The Banquet Hall. Dozens of Christmas trees seem to grow out of every nook and cranny of the Biltmore this time of the year, but the piece de resistance is the towering 34-foot Fraser fir in the Banquet Hall. In this cavernous space with soaring 70-foot arched ceilings, anything smaller would look like a toothpick.

Hoisting the behemoth tree into place is a monumental task, and decorating it is another one. The decorations are hung from scaffolds using long bamboo poles while Barnhardt directs the production from the ground. The decorations suggest Vanderbilt holiday traditions and reflect the family’s English and Dutch heritage.

Because the whole endeavor takes a full year to plan and implement, Barnhardt never gets a holiday from the holidays, so you may wonder if the ultimate Santa’s helper turns into a bit of a grouchy Grinch from time to time. Surprisingly, she is able to maintain her Christmas spirit.

“I don’t get tired of it, and neither does my staff,” Barnhardt said. “Look at the phenomenal place we decorate. How could we not get excited?”

IF YOU GO

Biltmore House. 1 Approach Road, Asheville, N.C. www.biltmore.com, 800-624-1575. Daytime tickets are $50-$59 for adults and $25-$29.50 for children ages 10-16 through Dec. 24. Prices increase to $57-$59 adults and $28.50-$29.50 for children ages 10-16 from Dec. 24 to Jan. 4. Evening tickets are $64-$68 for adults and $29.50-$32 for children ages 10-16. Children 9 and younger admitted free with paying adult. Discounts available for tickets purchased online. Other ticket options available at www.biltmore.com.