Quote from Angela on June 30, 2021, 9:57 am

The Biltmore Manor Estate is in Asheville is the largest private residential building ever constructed in the United States covering an impressive 135,280 sq feet area. The building is now a National Historic Landmark and also reportedly haunted by the Vanderbilt family of the 1800s.

Former home to the Vanderbilt family, George Washington Vanderbilt II (actual pic below) being head of the family. The Vanderbilts were famous for making their fortune through the steamboat and railroad industries and were avid art collectors.

If there was a potentially substantial business opportunity about to burst onto the market, the Vanderbilts were usually behind the scenes harnessing its production. They were the entrepreneurs of their day.

George Washington was the perfect country gentleman. He married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser and they had one daughter, Cornelia Vanderbilt. Desiring a privately owned country home for his family, in 1888 he constructed the Biltmore manor estate. Made from local limestone, and modelled on the Chateau de Blois in France, the home was fashioned in a classical French Renaissance style.

George was known for his community spirit and was highly respected by local folks. Each christmas the Vanderbilts would invite the surrounding towns into the estate for festive parties, all expenses were paid for.

The family were actually scheduled to board the HMS Titanic the very day tragedy hit, but thankfully were rebooked onto the sistership HMS Olympic which set sail some hours earlier.

Amazing how the events of just one day can change the whole course of history!

So what about hauntings?

The Biltmore Estate is known as one of the most actively haunted locations in North Carolina. There have been hundreds of sightings of Georges' apparition casually chilling out in the homes library section and some visitors claim they have heard Edith his wife calling out his name 'George!' amidst various rooms, and let us tell you there are plenty of rooms, 250 to be precise!

Some visitors claim there is a headless ghost cat which prowls the estate gardens here. Staff will often hear disembodied laughter echoing through the hallways and some have heard audible splashing water sounds emanating from the swimming pool.

Could the Vanderbilts be residually haunting the home they loved so much in life?

Here we explain a little about 'residual' hauntings because here at Boise City Ghost Hunters the science is just as important as the facts.

Residual haunts are the most common type of haunting with most paranormal phenomena falling under this category. Signs may include unexplained sounds, smells, voices, sudden humidity/temperature fluctuation, apparitions walking the same area repeatedly, activity which seems as if on 'replay loop'. So we kind of get a rapid glimpse of what their existence once was.

The higher a trauma level, the more phenomena will be experienced.

These haunting are not 'conscious' entities and are therefore unaware of the living people surrounding them but rather orchestrate memory imprint motions where they once resided in life.

Stairwells and public buildings often retain a good amount of residual energy due to the high volume of activity by way of individuals who have passed that way.

Point of interest: The Biltmore Estate has featured on multiple TV productions including the classic 1950s drama The Swan featuring Grace Kelly who was filmed sitting at this palatial residence. 

1992 drama Last of The Mohicans required the dramatic cinematics of ancient forest aesthetic, this Estate provided exactly that. 

Hannibal, sequence to Silence of The Lambs, offered the perfect backdrop for multiple scenes featuring Julianne Moore and Anthony Hopkins.

Forrest Gump contains a scene where Tom Hanks is filmed running the very road which leads to the Estate.

Movie Richie Rich filmed multiple interior shots inside the manor and even gave sneak peaks of actual family portraits.

Have you visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville? Did you experience anything paranormal?

Day passes and overnight bookings are available. Be sure to check their website for details.

Go on, we dare you.