George Washington Vanderbilt came to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, N.C., in 1888 and built a grand estate, where he lived with his family. Biltmore House, the main residence, is Americaâs largest home â a 250-room French Renaissance chateau, where the Vanderbilt familyâs original collection of furnishings, art and antiques is exhibited. The estate also encompasses more than 8,000 acres, including gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture.
After the founderâs death in 1914, his widow, Edith, managed the estate. Their daughter, Cornelia Vanderbilt Cecil, and son-in-law, John Francis Amherst Cecil, took over in the 1920s. Biltmore officially opened to the public for tours in 1930, but the venture was not profitable. After the Cecils divorced, Biltmore was put in trust for their two sons. The estate president was chosen by George Vanderbiltâs widow.