who owns the biltmore estate in asheville north carolina
Biltmore Estate Biltmore Estate is a large (6950.4 acre or 10.86 square miles) private estate and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main residence, is a Châteauesque-style mansion built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 m2)[2] of floor space (135,280 square feet (12,568 m2) of living area). Still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants, it remains one of the most prominent examples of the Gilded Age.
North Carolina Zoo The North Carolina Zoological Park is located in Asheboro in Randolph County, North Carolina in the Uwharrie Mountains near the geographic center of the state, approximately 75 miles (121 km) west of Raleigh, NC, United States. At over 2,000 acres (810 ha), it is the largest walk-through zoo in the world, and one of only two state-owned zoos in the United States.[3] The NC Zoo has over 1,600 animals from more than 250 species primarily representing Africa and North America. The zoo is open 364 days a year and receives more than 700,000 visitors annually.