America's Largest
Private Home
The Biltmore House in the mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina is the largest private home in America. The 250-room chateau opened in 1895. It had
all the modern conveniences then: electric lights, mechanical refrigeration, central heat, and indoor plumbing.
Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of Central Park, planned the landscaping for the 250 acres surrounding the chateau. The surrounding property at the time
included another 125,000 acres. Most of that acreage is now part of the Pisgah National Forest.
The family dining room:
Here are a few of the movies that have been filmed at the Biltmore Estate:
1948 — Tap Roots, starring Van Heflin and Susan Hayward.
1956 — The Swan, starring Grace Kelly, Louis Jordan, Alec Guinness, and Agnes Moorehead.
1979 — Being There, starring Peter Sellers.
1980 — The Private Eyes, starring TIm Conway and Don Knotts.
1990 — Mr. Destiny, starring Jim Belushi and Michael Caine (footage only).
1992 — The Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe.
1994 — Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks and Sally Fields (features corn field and lagoon in Hank's cross-country run).
1994 — Richie Rich, starring Macaulay Culkin and John Larroquette.
1996 — My Fellow Americans, starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner (location for the farmhouse, campground, and most White House scenes).
1998 — Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams (cabin footage and a few other scenes).
2000 — Hannibal, starring Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore (home of
Mason Verger as well as the Sardinian barn scenes).
2002 — The Clearing, starring Robert Redford, Helen Mirren, and Willem Dafoe (forest scenes).
Address: Biltmore Estate, One Lodge Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801; 828-255-1333; 800-624-1575. Email:
happenings@biltmore.com. Web: http://www.biltmore.com.
