What is the largest private residence in the United States?

The largest private residence in the United States is Biltmore Estate, specifically Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Built for George Washington Vanderbilt II, it remains privately owned by his descendants.

Richard Morris Hunt designed the Châteauesque mansion, while landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted planned the surrounding grounds. Construction lasted from 1889 to 1895, producing a vast Gilded Age country house with 250 rooms, including guest suites, service areas, a library, banquet hall, conservatory, and indoor recreational facilities.

The name Biltmore combines De Bilt, the Dutch ancestral home of the Vanderbilt family, with “more,” an old English term for open countryside. Vanderbilt originally envisioned the property as a mountain retreat, but it developed into a large working estate.

Biltmore is often confused with the broader estate, which includes extensive land, gardens, a winery, hotels, and visitor attractions. The superlative specifically concerns Biltmore House, the residence itself. The house opened to the public in 1930 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.