Rafael Guastavino Sr. Estate

Historic house in North Carolina, United States

United States historic place


Rafael Guastavino, Sr., Estate
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

Rafael Gustavino Monument, September 2012
35°35′51″N 82°18′35″W / 35.59750°N 82.30972°W / 35.59750; -82.30972
Area	8 acres (3.2 ha)
Built	1895 (1895)
Built by	Guastavino, Rafael, Sr.
NRHP reference No.	89000849^[1]
Added to NRHP	July 13, 1989

The Rafael Guastavino Sr. Estate, also known as Rhododendron, is a historic estate and a national historic district located near Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses three contributing sites and three contributing structures associated with the former estate of the noted Spanish-born architectural engineer Rafael Guastavino. Although the house was razed in the late 1940s, the property includes above-ground ruins and landscaping, the ruins of Guastavino's tile kiln and its brick stack. Other contributing elements are a section of stone wall, a vaulted hillside cellar (traditionally known as the wine cellar), the exposed foundation ruins of the house, and earthworks. The estate was Guastavino's principal residence for the last 14 years of his life. The property is now Christmount, the conference and retreat center of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).^[2]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Michael T. Southern and Peter Austin (May 1989). "Rafael Guastavino Sr. Estate" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved August 1, 2014.