Mansions across the US: These are the grandest historic homes, by size and number of rooms (2024)

Grant Suneson and John Harrington| 24/7 Wall Street

Before neighbors could show off their wealth by purchasing the latest sports car, wealthy people in America flaunted their money by building opulent mansions. Erecting mansions today, thanks to advancements in building technology, is easier than ever, but in the early days of America it was a luxury very few could afford. Many of these homes cost millions of dollars to build at a time when spending that much money on a home was practically unheard of.

24/7 Wall St. compiled a list of the largest or most notable historic mansions in each state by reviewing information from historical societies, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, and museums.

Though the people who commissioned the houses have long been dead, many of their names and legacies live on. The famously wealthy Vanderbilt family built two of the homes on the list: the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and The Breakers in Rhode Island, located in Newport, one of the oldest towns in America. Matilda Dodge Wilson was left with a fortune when her husband John Dodge, co-founder of the Dodge motor company, died. She used some of the money to build Meadow Brook Hall, an 88,000-square-foot mansion in Rochester, Michigan.

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Many of these mansions are quite old. In Alaska and Hawaii, the mansions listed were built before those states joined the Union.

1. Alabama: Shorter Mansion

• City: Eufaula

• Built In: 1906

• Commissioned by: Eli Sims Shorter II

• Size: 8,700 sq. feet

2. Alaska: Russian Bishop's House

• City: Sitka

• Built In: 1843

• Commissioned by: Bishop Innocent

• Size: 21,530 sq. feet

3. Arizona: McCune Mansion

• City: Paradise Valley

• Built In: 1963

• Commissioned by: Walker McCune

• Size: 52,000 sq. feet

4. Arkansas: The Clayton House

• City: Fort Smith

• Built In: 1852

• Commissioned by: William Henry Harrison Clayton

• Size: Over 6,000 sq. feet

5. California: Hearst Castle

• City: San Simeon

• Built In: 1947

• Commissioned by: William Randolph Hearst

• Size: 68,500 sq. feet

6. Colorado: Byers-Evans House Museum

• City: Denver

• Built In: 1883

• Commissioned by: Byers-Evans families

• Size: 10,000 sq. feet

7. Connecticut: Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum

• City: Norwalk

• Built In: c. 1864

• Commissioned by: LeGrand Lockwood

• Size: 44,000 sq. feet

8. Delaware: Winterthur

• City: Winterthur

• Built In: 1932

• Commissioned by: Henry Francis du Pont

• Size: 96,582 sq. feet

9. Florida: Mar-A-Lago

• City: Palm Beach

• Built In: 1927

• Commissioned by: Marjorie Merriweather Post

• Size: 62,500 sq. feet

10. Georgia: Hay House

• City: Macon

• Built In: 1859

• Commissioned by: William Butler Johnston

• Size: 18,000 sq. feet

11. Hawaii: Iolani Palace

• City: Honolulu

• Built In: 1882

• Commissioned by: King Kalakaua

• Size: 7,000 sq. feet

12. Idaho: Clark House

• City: Hayden Lake

Methodology

In order to determine the largest historic homes in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed media sources, local and state historical societies, tourism boards, and the National Register of Historic Places. Only homes built before 1966 were considered. The buildings had to serve as single-family homes at some point in their history.

Most of these buildings no longer serve as homes, and many have been converted into museums. To be considered, the homes must have publicly available information about their size, or they provided that information to 24/7 Wall St. Houses were ranked on square footage, unless that information was unavailable, in which case the homes were ranked based on the number of rooms they have.

24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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