Biltmore Estate
In the 1880s George W. Vanderbilt visited the Asheville, North Carolina area and loved it so much that he purchased 125,000 acres (506 km²), and eventually constructed what is billed as "America's largest home" ? The Biltmore Estate .
He commissioned renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds and gardens, and celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to help him plan the house. In a French Renaissance style, it took hundreds of workers in the 1890s to complete the 255-room "Castle."
Vanderbilt's idea was to replicate the great estates of Europe. Family members and friends invited from all over the United States and beyond came to experience the opulent estate with the splendor of Olmsted's sweet-smelling gardens, rich foods at the 64-seat banquet table, and the utter beauty of Vanderbilt's mountainous estate, much of which has been incorporated into the Pisgah National Park.
Visitors from all over the world were amazed at the indoor pool, bowling alley, exercise equipment, library, and other rooms filled with art works, furniture and novelties such as electricity and an intercom system. It is a large tourist attraction to western North Carolina today. It is still privately owned.
Modern photographs
The present-day caretakers of Biltmore Estate stipulate that "any reproduction of Biltmore House's exterior image is strictly limited to personal use only" , so for a modern photograph, visit their site.
