While many of us are content with our current homes and just want a comfortable living space, this isn’t true for everyone. In some places around the country, the rich want to live rich. With everything always being bigger in America, some of the houses we build are among the largest on Earth. What’s notable is that many of these homes can get as large as 20 times the size of the average American home.
So, who needs so much space? Well, it’s a good question, but with family names like Vanderbilt and du Pont, big homes were all the rage during the Gilded Age. In some cases, like the Biltmore Estate, some of these homes have been turned into museums while others are still private residences. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the largest houses in America in ascending order using research from sites like Explore, Family Handy Man, and Largest.org.
Why We’re Covering This
As this website covers plenty of topics around finance and Wall Street, it’s only right that we cover the homes of some of the biggest names on Wall Street. Unsurprisingly, many of the homes on this list have been purchased or built by those who own or run many publicly traded companies. While home prices and interest rates are going higher for most Americans, this is a look at how the 1% of the 1% truly lives.
15. Woodlea
- Size: 70,000 square feet
A beautiful Victorian-style home in Briarcliff Manor, New York, Woodlea is beautiful. There are a total of 75 rooms in the home, which was built for New York State Bar Association founder Elliot Fitch Shepard and his wife Maggie. Ultimately, the family’s heirs would sell the home to Sleepy Hollow Country Club, and by 1911, the house was fully converted. Between the carved wood and marble fireplaces, it remains a sight to see for golfers and non-golfers alike.
14. Idle Hour
- Size: 70,000 square feet
Completed for the Vanderbilt family, particularly William Vanderbilt, this mansion was finalized in 1882. The 110-room home was once considered one of the most exquisite homes in America. After William Vanderbilt died in 1920, the house went through a variety of owners and financial troubles. After a bankruptcy auction in 2017, the home was purchased by Mercury International LLC for $26.1 million.
13. Pensmore
- Size: 72,215 square feet
Situated in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, Pensmore is more than five stories tall and has walls 12 inches thick. Inside the house are 14 baths, 13 bedrooms, and it was designed to survive tornadoes, bomb blasts, and earthquakes. The home was built and remains owned by American millionaire astrophysicist Steven Huff. Huff has gone on record believing the house will survive at least 2,000 years.
12. Indian Neck Hall
- Size: 75,000 square feet
The president of Singer Manufacturing Company, Frederick Gilbert Bourne, built Indian Neck Hall in 1897. This home has 110 rooms and was the largest house on Long Island at the time. Bourne and his family would live in the mansion until his death in 1919 when his children sold the estate. Later the home would be re-opened as the La Salle Military Academy in 1926. Today, the home is now owned and used by St. John’s University.
11. Florham
- Size: 80,000 square feet
Across 110 rooms, the Florham house in New Jersey is just beautiful. Built between 1893 and 1899, the house was commissioned by Florence Adele Vanderbilt, a member of the Vanderbilt family. The house is believed to have cost around $5 million or $146 million in today’s money. Eventually, the estate was broken up in 1955 with the mansion and 178 garden acres sold to Fairleigh Dickinson University.
10. Versailles
- Size: 85,000 square feet
Located in Windermere, Florida, Versailles belongs to Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel. Although construction began in 2004, a series of financial headwinds prolonged the final build until 2023. The house is expected to cost over $100 million, which would make it the fourth most expensive house in U.S. history. There’s plenty of room for a 20,000-bottle wine cellar, 14 bedrooms, 9 kitchens, three indoor pools, and a video arcade.
9. Meadow Brook Hall
- Size: 88,000 square feet
Designed and built in the 1920s for Matilda Dodge Wilson, heir to the Dodge motor company, Meadow Brook Hall offers 110 rooms. For $4 million, the house and its surrounding property accounted for almost 15,000 acres. The house remained in private hands until 1957 when Matilda donated the house to the state of Michigan to found Oakland University. Fast forward to 2024, the house stands as the fourth largest historic museum mansion in the U.S. Best of all, it’s classified as an American castle.
8. Shadow Lawn
- Size: 90,000 square feet
One of the largest homes built before the great depression, Shadow Lawn was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Over 130 rooms adorn this New Jersey home, which was once used as a summer home for former President Woodrow Wilson. The home would later become part of Monmouth University in 1956. Shadow Lawn was also famously used as the home of Oliver Warbucks in the movie Annie.
7. Winterthur
- Size: 96,582 square feet
Originally built in 1937, Winterthur has gone through multiple renovations during its life. Henry Francis du Pont built the home and has more than doubled its size over the years. As the namesake of the ultra-wealthy du Pont family that still owns the home, Winterthur is a testament to du Pont’s love for collecting American furniture and decorative materials. In total, the home is said to have more than 90,000 different trinkets across 175 rooms available to view as part of its current status as a museum.
6. Arden House
- Size: 97,188 square feet
Completed in 1909 after a five-year construction period, Arden House is located in Harriman, New York. Built by railroad magnate Edward Henry Harriman, the house has been owned by the nonprofit Research Center on Natural Conservation. Today, the nonprofit operates with 97 guest rooms and a conference center.
5. Whitehall
- Size: 100,000 square feet
The previous home of Henry Flager, Whitehall, is now a public museum located in Palm Beach, Florida. Final touches to the home were added in 1902 when Henry Flagler, one of the founders of Standard Oil, built the home for his third wife. With 75 rooms, the home now operates as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum and gives year-round guided tours. In addition, the home hosts a variety of local galas and balls.
4. The One
- Size: 105,000 square feet
Still a private residence located in Bel Air, California, “The One”, is owned by Richard Saghian, who owns Fashion Nova. With construction beginning in 2014 and finishing in 2021, The One is the newest entry on this list. Saghian bought the house from its original developer for $126 million. In total, there are 21 bedrooms, 42 bathrooms, and a 5,550-square-foot primary suite. There is also a 30-car garage, a four-lane bowling alley, and five swimming pools.
3. Oheka Castle
- Size: 109,000 square feet
Built between 1914 and 1919, the cost to build the third-largest home in America was around $11 million. Accounting for inflation, this translates to around $158 million in today’s dollars. Otto Khan, a financier who worked in various industries including railroads, built the home, which remains the largest home in New York. With a total of 127 rooms, Oheka Castle is now an upscale hotel and is now owned by Long Island Developer Gary Melius.
2. Fair Field
- Size: 110,000 square feet
In 2003, junk bond billionaire Ira Rennert began construction on his 63-acre estate known as Fair Field. The main house offers a total of 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, 3 pools, and includes a theater with seating for 164. The house is so large that it has its very own power plant. It’s believed the house will be worth about $500 million in 2024 and is locked in battle with Oheka Castle in a battle to be the largest home in New York state.
1. Biltmore Estate
- Size: 175,000 square feet
Without question, the largest house in America is the Biltmore House. Located just outside Asheville, North Carolina, the Biltmore Estate offers up to 175,000 square feet of space. Across 250 rooms, the home is still privately owned by the family of George Washington Vanderbilt II, who built the home. Constructed between 1889 and 1895, there is no question this home is a testament to the Gilded Age era of mansions. With 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces, you could be completely happy never leaving this properly.
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