Biltmore Estate, North Carolina

Biltmore Estate, built by George Washington Vanderbilt in the late 1800s, is the largest historic, private home in America (179,000 square feet). This monstrous edifice and cultivated grounds is on the scale of a European royal palace, built in the style of a Loire Valley chateau, crossed with a few English estates. It has 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, and three kitchens. Its 375 foot facade looms over the remains (8,000 acres) of a 125,000 acre estate, with grounds designed by Olmstead. A railway was built to the site to bring construction materials, which included trainloads of Italian marble. Construction lasted six years, and was completed in 1895. The house is still owned by the family (William Cecil) though it has been developed into the largest tourist attraction between the Washington Monument, and Disneyworld. The modern tourist reception center and ticket building is bigger than Monticello. Approximately 30% of the 250 rooms are open to the public, for the basic admission price. An additional 30% can be seen on various "behind the scenes" tours.