From Staff Reports

The delivery of a towering 35-foot Fraser fir tree at “America’s largest home” on Nov.1 was the finishing touch after a year of planning and weeks of decorating Biltmore House for the holidays, according to the Biltmore Estate.

Christmas at Biltmore, which began Nov. 3, will run through Jan. 7.

The Banquet Hall tree is Christmas at Biltmore’s star attraction. It took more than 50 staff members to hoist the tree onto their shoulders and carry it into the Banquet Hall, where a system of ropes secured the tree in place.

Technically, Nov. 1 marked the start of the Christmas season at Biltmore with its annual tree-raising ceremony. After it was decorated, the 35-foot Fraser fir was put on display in the Banquet Hall.

The ceremony is a tradition that stretches back to the late 1800s, floral manager Lizzie Whitcher told Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) in a recent interview.

“George [Vanderbilt] wanted a tree that reached halfway to the ceiling in the banquet hall, and that is a 70-foot ceiling, so that is why we aim for those 35 feet,” News 13 quoted Whitcher as saying.

The TV station added, “This year, it’s a designer’s choice, meaning they don’t have a specific theme for the tree decorations.”

To that end, Whitcher told News 13, “People love (this) kind of the nostalgia of Christmas and going back in time — and I think coming to Biltmore gives you that feeling and experience.”

Meanwhile, this year’s celebrations coincide with a new Hallmark Christmas movie that was filmed at the estate earlier this year —  and will premiere on Thanksgiving weekend.

The film “A Biltmore Christmas” is described as a love story about a screenwriter “who lands the job of a lifetime when she’s hired to pen the script for a remake of the beloved holiday movie” and is magically transported back in time. 

The movie is scheduled to premiere on the Hallmark Channel at 8 p.m. Nov. 26.

Also, a free 10.5-minute mini-documentary, “Behind the Magic,” showing the behind-the-scenes efforts to prepare the Biltmore Estate for the holiday season, is available for viewing online at www.Biltmore.com.