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thumb, which is the largest house in America, with more than 250 rooms, was built as a private residence complete with indoor pool and bowling alley. Modern guests, who also come to see the adjacent gardens, enjoy a similar view to this 1902 photo.]]
is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and continues to grow. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Asheville's population as of 2007 was 73,875. Asheville is a part of the four-county Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area, the population of which was estimated by the Census Bureau in 2008 to be 408,436. Asheville was rated as the #1 Place to Live on Relocate-America.com's "America's Top 100 Places to Live for 2007" and #9 in 2005.
Asheville is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the confluence of the Swannanoa River and the French Broad River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.3 square miles (107.0 km²), of which, 40.9 square miles (106.0 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.94% water.