Gustavino from Spain and Black Mountain NC

More about Rafael Gustavino.
Architect.
Resident of Black Mountain.

The Swannanoa Valley History Museum has published an excellent article HERE about his home in Black Mountain, and a bit about the man.  I just learned that when he studied architecture in Spain, he had a classmate named Antonio Gaudi (who is pretty famous in Barcelona.)

I first heard about Gustavino when I went with some other seniors to tour the Basilica of St. Laurence in Asheville NC.  (Basilica web site here.) There is an incredibly large dome over the entire sanctuary, designed by Gustavino, and his unique system of interlocking ceramic tiles.  There are still tours available, but probably need to be scheduled with their office. It is a most enjoyable and educational hour.  The art is definitely worth it.


Calling the Gustavino home a Spanish Castle by the locals, was just probably because of his Spanish heritage.  It certainly is not a home looking as if a Spanish person wanted to emulate his history.  I would guess that it's more to fulfill the wishes of his wife and family.

Here's the earlier photo from the Museum article.

This view shows very well how the lowest level could have been a barn for animals when it was first built.

This postcard shows how the terraced hillside was landscaped at the height of it's beauty.

Another excellent site to look at Here is about Gustavino's life, work, and plans for a Gustavino Museum.

I have yet to do the walking tour to see the kiln which is still standing. But I'll share the SV Museum's photo with you.

Chimney is 60 feet tall for this kiln.

Before it was Christmount, Rhododendron Farms

 1890's Rafael Gustavino purchased 1000 acres of Black Mountain.  He moved here with his wife Fransesca.

 He and his son and grandson used a unique technique of ceramic bricks or tiles to create free standing domes and vaulted ceilings in these buildings across America.

 These are some of the ruins of his farm at the entrance to Christmount Retreat.

The signs neglect to mention that the home burned.

There is a lot more information about Gustavino.  So much that I'll make it a separate post tomorrow.

Happy Imbolc

 The beginnings of spring.  Many years daffodils will not only come up, but bloom, and then freeze with our ongoing seesaw of winter into spring.

The Gustavino mansion ruins at Christmount community in Black Mountain.  More about them, and him soon!

The ruins of a mansion

There's a nice little community here with a retreat center, conferences and camps in summertime, and some homes mainly for retired ministers I think...called Christmount.

I went to a party in one of the conference rooms last Saturday.  The only other time I've visited was to enjoy  Sunday brunch which is open to the public in the main dining room...and is quite a good affair of a variety of foods.

But on my way home I stopped to see what has more interest to my "historic places" funny bone.

 In case you're wondering if I stuck my head into the barred opening...and the answer is, no way. A dark space exists, and I love sunshine...and it just felt too spooky.

The Gustavino mansion ruins are right inside the Christmount entrance.  They were completely hidden by growth of native plants for a long time, which have not only been uncovered but have signs talking about the areas you're looking at.  You have to park on the narrow road however.

I'll share a few more pictures of the ruins later.

Tri-state boundary

A 1913 photo (according to the writing at bottom) of the markers of the states which join here. Tennessee and Virginia are on the white stone, and for some reason the Kentucky marker is a few yards away.  But they all do have a corner in common somewhere up there.  Which mountain, and what's the town down the hill?

So I wanted to know what the mountain was. And what the town in the distance was.
I stumbled upon the history of these surveyed boundaries.  And of course they go back to when European men decided they wanted to live on Native American's land. And the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War.  And how kings of England gifted property in the Americas to those who did them favors.

But here's a detailed description of the history, and some great maps. virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/

I am so glad that there's now a national monument, much better than the one depicted above.

 Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, showing the Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky borders meeting.

Too cold for a walk

Nice rime ice on the tops of the mountains, or maybe snow still.  It didn't get above freezing in the last 24 hours (written Jan 21 6:30 pm). Anywhere in western North Carolina.  Lake Tomahawk did have some hardy folks walking around it. And it hasn't been cold long enough for the lake to freeze.

The more hardy people were in Asheville probably at the Martin Luther King march...but I hope nobody brought kids this year.  The weather man said 30 minutes in this temperature and there could be frostbite on exposed skin.  Yep.  I'm indoors most of the day!

Hooker Falls trip there and back

Over hill and dale -
starting in Black Mountain, go south and west, Asheville airport, south on US 280 through Mills River to the Brevard intersection with US 64.  If you take a right and head west, you're on US 276 into the Pisgah National Forest which passes Looking Glass Falls right on the road, and in a few more miles you meet the Blue Ridge Parkway.

However, if you turn left at the intersection of US 280 and US 64, going east, you are headed to Etowah.  But don't go that far (though there's not really a "town" that represents Etowah...just a few shops spread about, and a golf course.  Before getting to that area, there's a signal light at a quarry on your left, and a turn on the right.  The quarry is part of a large cliff face as well as some rocks near the road. The best clue for your turn is the small airport and a sign to DuPont State Forest. Or maybe it says Waterfalls...I can't remember.  They are both to the right.

 You immediately cross railroad tracks that are no longer used, actually the tracks are gone and just the crossing guard is left.

The waterfalls signs are blue, and another one will come along (another right turn) in a few miles.  It's less than 10 miles.  The hills really climb at that point, and there're only a few private drives off this road.  The first parking lot of the state forest is on the left, but that's not the one I go to.  A quarter mile further is one on the right.  That lot gives access to both Hooker Falls in one direction on the river, and Triple Falls in the other direction.

 The sand was deposited all over after a flooding rain on the Little River

 Once you have walked down the hill, there's a nice flat area around the rock-enclosed swimming/wading area below the falls.

Since it's mid-winter, people have come here for fire circles.

Or perhaps to see the kayak and rafts that went down the falls the day I visited.

Returning to Hwy US 64, you can see the quarry easier.

And back to home again in reverse.  I was pleased that the odometer said it was exactly 50 miles from my home.  I can do that in around an hour usually, and find someplace to eat lunch as well as sight-see, and I will enjoy a half day trip coming home in another hour's drive.

Feats of engineering

 A bit of drainage from the hills through rhododendrons, comes down to the path/roadbed, but it doesn't cross it.

Some smart engineer types dug a pipe and that way the water goes under the pathway...to run down to the Little River just a few feet away.

 Some port-a-pottys are located ahead on the path also.  I dare say they were especially welcome during summer picnics down by the swimming hole next to the falls.

 There's a lower and an upper viewing area, and a sign which says...

 Rules of the area.  No rock climbing.  No swimming or wading above the waterfalls. In the 10 years that I've visited Hooker Falls, there have been reports of several people dying who were climbing the rocks above the falls.

First view of white water.

The woods in winter

 The Little River flowing towards Hooker Falls.

A birch with a strange configuration.

Then and now downtown Black Mountain

More old buildings to post about today.

This is an early photo of a building which still stands today in downtown Black Mountain.

"Along the north side of West State Street is the Kaltman building, a series of eight similar store fronts constructed in 1928 by Samuel Kaltman, a clothing manufacturer from New York who came to the area in 1921 for his health. By 1926, along with his wife, Bessie, he was a leading developer in Black Mountain controlling about half of the real estate in Black Mountain’s downtown business section. Besides the Kaltman building he also built a garage and store building at the corner of State and Cherry Street. Kaltman died of a stroke in 1938 in his shop on Church Street where he made men’s trousers. These store fronts have been home to a wide variety of businesses since their construction including a drug store, hardware store, grocery, meat market, tea company, barber shop, cupcake shop, wine market, and running store.  (Source: Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center post on Facebook, Jan 15, 2019.)

2018 view - The Merry Wine Market on left, the Vertical Runner, then Kitchen Emporium, then Hey Hey Cupcake...and I think a hair salon is next.  The Kaltman engraved stone is still visible on the edge of the center part of the building.  I'm also impressed that there are still trees in the background, and some may be the same ones that were there 90 years ago.  Obviously the canvass awnings have been replaced!

My photo of the shops in the same building in 2013.

In the postcard below, the same building is shown, and a white gas station at the far end, which is across Montreat Rd.  The 7up sign is on the wall of a taller building that abutts Kaltman's building. In the first photo (around 1928-30) Standard Oil was using that wall for its sign.

"In 1927, the gas station at the corner of Montreat Rd. and State Street, the site of Black Mountain's town square, pumped more gasoline than any other station in North Carolina. The New Theatre, just to the east on state Street was renamed the Pix, and was managed by Lee Hiltz's stepson Laddie Terrell.  It closed in the 1960s. (Source: Swannanoa Valley, by history museum.)

I admit to having no idea who Lee Hiltz or her/his stepson Laddie Terrell were.  That gas station was gone by the time I moved here in 2007...but there was just a parking lot where now a nice Town Square has been established. (And we haven't had a movie theater since I moved here either.)

In 2014 I took this photo looking south along Montreat Rd. The signal lights are at State Street, where if you turn right you'd see the Kaltman building on your right, and to the left in this photo all those blue awnings are part of Tyson Furniture.  But closer to where I was, you can see some greenery next to the sidewalk, and that was the early stages of the Town Square.

Below you can see the beginning of the Women's March in Black Mountain in January 2018.  It began in the Town Square, and I'm standing close to the bench in the foreground in a grey coat, hands in my pockets looking at the camera.

I'm sharing this post with Sepia Saturday this week.

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share history through old photographs.

We're always looking for others to share their old (or not so old) photos with the Sepia Saturday folks.  Come link to your post, give a comment and join us!