Laps of luxury: when the indoor pool at this North Carolina estate was built in the 1800s, it was a technological triumph.(Backstroke)

This "home" and its indoor pool have to be seen to be believed. Said to be the largest privately owned home in the nation, the 108-year-old Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau. Its lush 8,000-acre grounds were sculpted by the designer of New York's Central Park. The property boasts a number of aquatic wonders, including a 35-acre lake near the vineyards, a bass pond, and a gorgeous outdoor pool and hot tub near a new inn, also on the estate.

The Biltmore mansion's piece de resistance is its indoor pool--a technological triumph for the 1800s. But, then, the residence itself was ahead of its time.

Custom-built for George W. Vanderbilt III, the mansion contained state-of-the-art conveniences: electricity, central heating and plumbing, mechanical refrigeration and two elevators. The grandson of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt filled his new palace with priceless art and antiques--and a 70,000-gallon pool in the basement.

Designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt, it was one of the first of its kind to be built in a private residence in the United States.

The tile that lines the entire pool as well as the room's walls and arched ceiling was made on site by Biltmore Brick and Tile Works. A ledge surrounds the pool on three sides, and a wooden platform offered divers their jump-off point when the pool ...