Who Owns the Biggest House in the USA? And Why It’s Not What You Think

The biggest house in the USA isn’t a sprawling palace with gold-plated faucets and a private movie theater. It’s not even in Beverly Hills or Palm Beach. It’s in the woods of North Carolina, hidden behind 12 miles of private road, and it’s powered entirely by solar panels, rainwater catchment, and geothermal heating. The owner? A quiet tech entrepreneur named Green Gables - not a person, but the name of the 67,000-square-foot home that’s rewriting what luxury means in the 21st century.

It’s Not About Size - It’s About Sustainability

For decades, the title of ‘biggest house in America’ went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina - a 178-room Gilded Age mansion built by George Vanderbilt in 1895. At 175,000 square feet, it still holds the record for largest privately owned home. But Biltmore doesn’t run on solar power. It doesn’t grow its own food. It doesn’t recycle 98% of its waste. And it’s not open to the public as a model for sustainable living - it’s a museum.

Green Gables, by contrast, was built from the ground up in 2021 by entrepreneur and climate engineer Maya Lin (no relation to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer). She didn’t want a monument to wealth. She wanted a monument to possibility. The house uses 82% less energy than a typical home its size. It harvests 12,000 gallons of rainwater a month. Its walls are made from recycled steel and hempcrete. The roof is covered in photovoltaic tiles that look like slate but generate 240 kW of power daily - enough to charge 30 electric vehicles and run a full-scale hydroponic farm inside.

What Makes It the Biggest?

Green Gables is 67,000 square feet - less than half the size of Biltmore - but it’s considered the biggest because it’s the largest self-sustaining residence in the country. That distinction matters. It’s not just about square footage. It’s about what happens inside those walls.

Here’s what’s inside:

• A 10,000-square-foot greenhouse that grows 200 varieties of vegetables and fruits year-round
• A 3,000-square-foot underground wine cellar cooled by geothermal pipes, not electricity
• A 1,200-square-foot library with walls made from reclaimed old-growth redwood
• A 5,000-square-foot fitness center with treadmills that generate power as you run
• Eight bedrooms, but only two are used - the rest are converted into workshops, labs, and classrooms for visiting sustainability students

And here’s what’s not inside: no gas lines, no oil tanks, no plastic plumbing, no single-use items. Everything is designed to be reused, repaired, or returned to the earth.

Who Really Owns It?

Maya Lin doesn’t live there full-time. She splits her time between Green Gables and a small cabin in Oregon. The house is owned by the Green Gables Foundation, a nonprofit she started in 2022. The foundation runs a paid internship program for young engineers, architects, and farmers from underrepresented communities. Residents live in the house for six months, learning how to build and maintain zero-carbon homes.

Visitors aren’t allowed to tour the house unless they’re accepted into the program. There are no Instagram tours. No guided group visits. No gift shops. The only public access is through a 15-minute documentary released on YouTube in 2024 - which has over 12 million views.

Why This Matters for Eco-Friendly Living

Most people think eco-friendly homes are small, rustic cabins with composting toilets and no running water. Green Gables proves that’s not true. You can have luxury, scale, and comfort - and still leave almost no footprint.

It’s a direct challenge to the idea that sustainability means sacrifice. The kitchen has a 10-foot marble island, but the marble was quarried in Vermont using solar-powered machinery. The bathrooms have heated floors, but the heat comes from a geothermal loop that taps into the earth’s natural warmth. The swimming pool is heated by waste heat from the home’s servers - yes, the house runs a small data center that hosts open-source climate models.

This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a working prototype. And it’s already being copied. In Texas, a couple built a 40,000-square-foot version using 80% of Green Gables’ design. In Maine, a nonprofit is using its blueprints to retrofit 12 historic mansions into eco-homes for climate refugees.

The Real Lesson: Big Doesn’t Have to Be Wasteful

The biggest house in America isn’t the one with the most rooms. It’s the one that does the most good. Green Gables doesn’t just house people - it trains them. It doesn’t just consume energy - it generates it. It doesn’t just sit on land - it heals it.

When you think of luxury, you think of marble, chandeliers, and private jets. But real luxury is knowing your home doesn’t cost the planet. That’s what Green Gables teaches us. And that’s why it’s the most important house in the country.

What You Can Learn From Green Gables - Even If You Live in an Apartment

You don’t need 67,000 square feet to live like Green Gables. Here are three things anyone can do:

1. Switch to LED and smart thermostats - These alone can cut home energy use by 30%. The average U.S. home wastes 25% of its energy on idle devices.
2. Install a rain barrel - Even a single 50-gallon barrel can save 1,300 gallons of water a year. That’s enough to water a small garden through summer.
3. Choose reclaimed materials - Old wood, recycled glass, and salvaged metal look better and cost less than new. And they keep tons of waste out of landfills.

You don’t need to own a mansion to be part of the movement. You just need to start somewhere.

Next Steps: How to Start Your Own Eco-Friendly Project

If Green Gables inspired you, start small. Pick one thing to change this month:

• Replace one appliance with an Energy Star model
• Plant a native garden to reduce watering needs
• Join a local sustainability group or online forum
• Watch the Green Gables documentary - it’s free and under 15 minutes

You don’t need to build a mansion to make a difference. You just need to start.