The Basilica of St. Lawrence, Asheville, NC

The Basilica of St. Lawrence is a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church located in downtown Asheville, North Carolina.

When Vanderbilt brought stone masons from Spain and Italy to build Biltmore, there were no churches in which the Catholic masons could worship.  Eventually churches were built.

The tile designer for Biltmore was Rafael Guastavino.

He was the designer of the Basilica of St. Lawrence, which was built in 1905.

Over the main entrance is a polychrome tile.

This style of tile is seen frequently in the basilica.

He designed the church that became the Basilica.

Much of the church, walls, ceilings, and floors, are covered by his tilework.

If some of his work seems familiar, he is also the designer of many NY subway stations and Grand Central Station. 

The basilica's dome has a span of 58 by 82 feet (18 by 25 m) and is reputed to be the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America.^[2]

 I was particularly struck by the stained glass.

Much of it was made in Germany.

.

We were there on a bright day, and it was magnificent.

Guastavino died before the building was complete.

He is entombed here.

The altar has a fresco of the Last Supper.

If you google St. Lawrence Basilica, you can see more exterior and wide-angle photos.

The Basilica's website is here:  http://www.saintlawrencebasilica.org/basilica.html

Thomas Wolfe House, Asheville, North Carolina

My Old Kentucky Home
is the name given by the previous owner of the house in which Thomas Wolfe grew up.

It is a not particularly impressive house with lots and lots of bedrooms.

And two bathrooms.

   Thomas was not particularly happy here, but the house figures prominently in his books.

He used this ledge to slip out of the summer bedroom to peek into the window of the woman he was infatuated with as a teenager.

"FilmNation Entertainment has announced that they are currently developing a film titled Genius and have signed on Michael Fassbender and Colin Firth to play classic author Thomas Wolfe and his editor Max Perkins, respectively."  source

Based on A. Scott Berg's National Book Award winning biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius,  the film will chart the real-life relationship between literary giant Thomas Wolfe (Fassbender) and renowned editor Max Perkins (Firth), who developed a tender, complex friendship that changed the lives of both men forever.  source2

Biltmore

In the morning, we had several hours of lecture about the things we would see and the history of the Vanderbilt's and Biltmore.  

In the afternoon, we toured the property.  Our bus was able to drop us off (the pic shows a Biltmore shuttle for folks who arrive by car to get from the parking lot) right in front.  

Photography is not allowed inside the house.

This detail shows the external staircase, copied from a European castle.  In that castle, it was built because they forgot to put in an inside staircase.  (I wonder if that's true.)  A docent said that the engineering purpose  for this staircase was to cantilever the weight of the inside staircase which is a wide stone staircase running along the internal wall.    The external staircase looks to be about 18 inches wide.

There are lots of fascinating gargoyles - some are downspouts - some are decorative.

 Outside the library is this wonderful terrace covered by wisteria.  This picture shows about a sixth of the terrace.  It is said that Olmstead spent weeks sitting in this area thinking about the design for the grounds.  The property was bought cheaply because it had been clear-cut.  It was rocky soil, full of tree stumps and was eroding badly.

After visiting Biltmore, we went to the Biltmore Winery.  About 10% of the grapes they use are grown here.  They do make a "champagne".  

Here are the old tilted racks to get the dead yeasts to sit in the neck so that the neck can be frozen and the sediment can be removed.  The tilting and turning is now done mechanically, and the racks are no longer used.  Notice the small white "box" near the gray door.  A champagne cork is about an inch and a half in diameter - to get it to fit into the neck, they need that high-tech equipment - a microwave!  30 seconds in the microwave, and the cork is softened enough to be able to be put in the bottle.  (The tour guide said that will also work to recork the unfinished wine that you are saving for another day. . . )

The gardens are wonderful.

Here a gardener is deadheading the waterlilies.

We returned to Montreat for dinner and an evening presentation of North Carolina ghost stories.

Long day, but lots of fun.

Road Scholar in Asheville, NC

We took two days to get to Asheville.  Arrived at 4:30.  The Assembly Inn at Montreat was built in the 1920s and restored several times after fires.

The building sits across from a small lake.

 This is the view from a porch.

This is the view from my window.

The Conference Center was developed as a Chautauqua type summer camp.  In order to fund it, Presbyterians were given the opportunity to donate in return for a small bit of land for their private use.  It was recently incorporated to be a small city rather than a private institution.  Lovely summer homes.

They are in the process of renovating the bedrooms.

So far, they are air conditioned, with Wi-Fi in all rooms.  They have lovely new windows.

For the first day, breakfast is at 7:30, 

followed by lectures on Biltmore and the Vanderbilts.

After lunch, we go to Biltmore.

After dinner, there is a storyteller.

Garlic Harvest

After D harvests the garlic, it is hung in the shed.

When it's a bit dry, it gets cleaned and trimmed.
This garlic is "Music".

 

We had two rainbows, both double in one day!
The clouds with this one were really pink!

 

Garlic!!!

We have several varieties of garlic
This one is Georgian Fire.

We should have plenty to eat and to plant for next year.
(Did you know that garlic is planted in the fall, just like tulips and daffodils.)

Rainbow and Strawberries

This is a terribly wet year.
We got a lot of rain:
   May      6.1 inches
June   11.6 inch
       July     6.25 inches
But tonight the sun came out and we got a double rainbow.

Magical.



We are getting fewer berries than last year, but they are wonderful. 

These are strawberries from three-year-old plants -
Mara des Bois strawberries.