Biltmore Estate

Steve’s take

The largest privately owned home in America — 250 rooms, 178,926 square feet, built by the Vanderbilts because apparently having money in the 1890s meant building a French chateau in North Carolina. The house tour is impressive, the grounds are enormous, and the winery does tastings. It's expensive — budget accordingly — but your kids will spend weeks telling their friends they went to a castle. Right off I-40 in Asheville.