For any visitor to Asheville, N.C., there is one must-see location on the list of places to go: Biltmore Estate.

When the Industrial Asset Management Council holds its opening gala there to kick off the Spring 2009 Professional Forum, you will quickly see why.

Biltmore is much more than the largest private residence in America. It is a living, breathing history lesson, art museum and working estate all rolled into one experience.

Built on a bluff high above the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, the 175,000-sq.-ft. dwelling marks the passage of time even as it restores the soul of visitors.

More than a million people toured the estate in 2008, some 113 years after George Washington Vanderbilt III opened the home following six years of construction.

Named by Vanderbilt, the moniker combines two words — "Bildt," the region in Holland where the Vanderbilt family originated, and "more," an old English word for upland rolling hills.

Biltmore House and close-by grounds Source: http://www.netmouse.com/usa/north_carolina/100_biltmore_estate.jpg

The 250-room mansion features 33 family and guest bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens, an indoor swimming pool, four acres of floor space and an astounding 11 million bricks. Rare artwork and ornate furnishings from around the world fill the rooms of Biltmore.

Famed architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the house on three chateaux built in 16^th-century France, while renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead designed the grounds, gardens and surrounding estate.

Originally spanning 125,000 acres, the estate now encompasses 8,000 acres, as most of its land was sold to the federal government in 1915 to create the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest.

Today, the estate stands as a testament to the legacy of the Biltmore family, even as it functions as a thriving tourist attraction, major employer, working farm and winery. Some 1,800 people are employed by the estate, which draws more visitors than any other single landmark in North Carolina each year.

The Vanderbilt legacy is preserved in Biltmore's enduring vision — to serve as a showcase for George Vanderbilt's cherished collections, a retreat for entertaining guests, and a profitable, self-supporting business.

In short, the estate is as American as America itself, and that includes an historic vision that is ever expanding.

"We base our culture and philosophy around our mission statement, which is the preservation of Biltmore as a privately owned, profitable, working estate," says William "Bill" A.V. Cecil, Jr., president and CEO of The Biltmore Company, which owns and operates Biltmore Estate, a registered National Historic Landmark.

Cecil, the great-grandson of the late George W. Vanderbilt, tells the IAMC Dispatch that "Biltmore has to grow in order to maintain the entire estate to the level our guests have come to expect. One of our latest projects is a special events venue, and we've made every effort to ensure that our guests at the house and our guests at an event in the new venue will be pleased with the set-up."

William Cecil, Jr.

He adds that "the site will be used as it was originally designed, to allow all of Vanderbilt's guests to view the house with the backdrop of valleys and mountains beyond. As always, we are working very carefully to maintain the historical integrity of the entire estate."

And what a history it has been. Presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter walked its elegant halls. So did Prince Charles of England, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and, long before them, authors Edith Wharton and Henry James.

Actors Anthony Hopkins, Grace Kelley, Don Knotts, Tim Conway, McCauley Culkin, Jim Belushi, Robin Williams, Robert Redford and Daniel Day-Lewis all visited the estate, most as part of filming sessions for movies.

The estate itself has starred in films, ranging from Forrest Gump and Last of the Mohicans to Being There and Hannibal.

But what keeps visitors coming back is the unparalleled beauty of the house and its surroundings. The introduction to A Pictorial Guide to Biltmore tells it best: "To visit Biltmore is to cross the threshold into a world of hospitality, beauty and luxury that has remained unchanged for more than a century and is being preserved for many generations yet to come."

The Biltmore legacy includes giving. George and Edith Vanderbilt were well-known for helping others. Both were instrumental in bringing a school, hospital, church, shops and cottages to the nearby town of Biltmore Village. They brought plumbing and central heating to homes in the area at a time when most dwellings in the South lacked such amenities.

In 1930, as the Great Depression gripped the country, the family opened their palatial home to the public for the first time, in response to a request by the city of Asheville. The goal was twofold — revitalize the local economy with tourism and generate funds to maintain the estate.

Eight decades later, it's safe to say that both goals were realized. Asheville today is hailed as one of the top 12 tourist destinations in the world, according to Frommer's, while Biltmore Estate thrives as a multi-faceted entity.

The Biltmore Company includes Biltmore House, Gardens, Winery and River Bend Farm; the Inn on Biltmore Estate; Biltmore Estate Wine Company; and Biltmore licensed products. Some 64,000 guests stay annually at the 213-room Inn, while the winery remains America's most visited and annually ships 150,000 cases of wine to buyers all over the world.

None of this would have been accomplished without the vision, dedication and generosity of the Vanderbilts — qualities that endure today in the person of Bill Cecil, Jr., and his family.

In his foreword to the Biltmore book, Cecil writes: "Guests remain a central part of the Estate today. You keep alive the pleasure my great-grandfather took in entertaining and enable us to maintain his ideal of a private working estate that sustains itself and benefits the community. ... I know my great-grandfather would be pleased that so many people continue to visit his home and perpetuate his dream."

If you are one of the fortunate guests to tour the halls of Biltmore Estate during the IAMC Forum on May 3, you will more than perpetuate George Vanderbilt's dream.

You will feel it.