Lighting America’s Grandest Mansion

George Washington Vanderbilt created Biltmore Estate in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains more than a century ago as a retreat for family and friends, a private chateau to rival the great manors of Europe.

The Biltmore is magnificent. With some 250-rooms filled with priceless art and antiques, the finest in architecture and interior design, and gardens designed by America’s first landscape architect, the Biltmore is probably the most distinguished private residence in the United States.

Today, besides a popular tourist site, the Biltmore is an exclusive setting for companies, organizations and private groups to hold notable events. Meeting planning company Planning the Globe (PTG) recently took on the massive grounds of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Under the theme “Celebration of the Gilded Age,” PTG managed a major private party for a leading corporation on the grounds of the Biltmore Mansion. 

As part of its agreement, PTG was asked to execute something unprecedented, namely to illuminate the Biltmore’s façade in a multitude of color washes and fades - the first time this had ever been done in the estate’s history.

PTG contacted PDA Lighting and Sound of Charleston, South Carolina who used an ensemble of MAC 600s (14) and MAC 2000s (6) for the historic façade lighting. As guests arrived, the grand mansion came to life, fading from one color shade to the next throughout the evening while textured projections created looks never before seen in the historic mansion’s 100+ year history.

PDA president Jeff Nickles completed the lighting design.