D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections and University Archives

The Manor


"The Manor "  page 5 
D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC at Asheville 28804
Title The Manor - Albermarle Park - Asheville, N.C.
Identifier http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/books/booklets/the%20manor/the%20manor.htm
Creator E. P. McKissick
Subject Keyword  The Manor ; Albermarle Park Co. ; Albermarle Park ; hotels ; travel and tourism ; Asheville, NC ; food ; menus ; fine dining ; tuberculosis ; Swannanoa Country Club ; golf ; golf clubs ; climate ;
Subject LCSH The Manor (Asheville, N.C.)
Albermarle Park (Asheville, N.C.)
Asheville (N.C.) -- History -- Pictorial works
Asheville (N.C.) -- Architecture
North Carolina -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works
Asheville (N.C.) -- Description and travel
Date digital 2003-12-09
Publisher  Digital Publisher   D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Contributor

 

Type Source type: Photographs ; Text 
Format image/jpeg/text
Source SpecColl F 264 .A8 M35
Language English
Relation E.M. Ball Photographic Collection, UNCA ;
Coverage temporal late 1800's/early 20th century
Coverage spatial Asheville, NC
Rights Any display, publication or public use must credit D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor None  
Description A small 16 page promotional booklet, describing The Manor at Albermarle Park, and the surrounding Asheville area. It has tourists or potential residents as its target audience. One section warns tuberculin patients that they need not apply as they are excluded from the hotel.
Acquisition 2003-05-01
Citation The Manor. D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Processed by Special Collections staff,  2003
Last update 2003-12-09

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Description - The Manor

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Front Cover manor01 [Cover] The Manor - Albermarle Park - Asheville, N.C. - Owned and Operated by Albermarle Park Co. manor01.jpg (84846 bytes)
Back Cover manor02 [Back cover] "For All Seasons" - Asheville, N.C.

The Manor - "For a Year or a Day"
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page 1 manor03  Asheville, located in the mountains of North Carolina, with an altitude of 2,200 feet, is so happily situated and so lavishly endowed with the beauties of Nature and the comforts of civilization that she is able to draw visitors from both the North and the South, and to delight all comers, from whatever section.
The growth and development of Asheville is directly due to its climate and the natural beauties of the country. Even in the days of slow stage-coach travel, tourists were attracted to the place, and found themselves amply repaid for the journey by the wonderful beauty and healthfulness of the "Land of the Sky."
The Climate is fine the year round, which is evidenced by the number of visitors from
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page 2 manor04 different sections who are to be found here at any season. The Summer is ideal, with its beautiful, bright days, continually cooled by the mountain breezes, and its delightful, refreshing nights. The Winter climate is cool and clear, the altitude giving a bracing and exhilarating effect to the air which is not to be found elsewhere.
Four lines of the Southern Railway, with convenient schedules and comfortable trains, operate from Asheville as a center, itself a prosperous town of 18,000 regular inhabitants. It is thus kept very closely in touch with all the principal cities east of the Mississippi. Asheville is well governed by a progressive administration which is ever on the alert to promote the health and pleasure of the "stranger within the gates."
The Asheville School and the Bingham School are among the many public and private educational institutions of the city.  There are churches of all denominations; a splendid new auditorium which is on the circuit of all the leading theatrical attractions; several clubs; many modern stores at which shoppers will find any desired article; several parks; electric street-car and suburban lines; an excellent system of electric and gas lighting and sewerage. Asheville's water supply, brought by gravity through seventeen miles of iron pipe from the slopes of Mount Mitchell, is the particular pride of the city and the greatest safeguard that can be offered to residents, insuring as it does the absolute purity and unfailing supply of this greatest necessity.
Biltmore, the palatial home of Mr. George W. Vanderbilt, is just beyond the edge of the city, and on three days of each week visitors are allowed the privilege of driving at will through the enormous estate which surrounds Biltmore House.
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page 3 manor05 Albemarle Park is situated in the northern part of Asheville, on the western slope of Sunset Mountain. It is on the line of the Charlotte Street trolley cars which operate a regular fifteen minute schedule. It is one mile from the center of the city, about two and a half miles from the depot of the Southern Railway, and only 250 yards from the golf links of the Swannanoa Country Club. The trolley cars reach the city in ten minutes and continuing without transfer arrive at the railway station in fifteen minutes more.
The Park comprises thirty-five acres of the best residence property in Asheville. It is far enough away from the town to be free of the noise, dust and smoke, and yet is accessible by trolley or carriage, and is within easy walking distance over well-paved sidewalks.
From the beginning ever care has been taken to insure the healthfulness, safety, and beauty of the Park. An elaborate system of sewers and drains has been installed under the supervision of the firm of Waring, Chapman & Farquhar, according to the designs of the late George E. Waring. The landscape gardening was carried out by Mr. Samuel Parsons, Jr., ex-Superintendent of Central Park, New York, and the architectural work of The Manor and most of the cottages was done by Mr. Bradford L. Gilbert, of New York.
Besides The Manor and auxiliary cottages there are several cottages equipped for house-keeping which are leased independently of The Manor. Others will be built from time to time in the future for lease to desirable tenants--the aim of the Company being to establish at Albemarle Park a sort of Country Club such as those to be found at various places in the North, where patrons may always be assured of finding a refined and congenial gathering of friends.
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page 4 manor06 The Manor, open the year round, has many original and distinctive features which make it widely different from the regular hotels found in most resorts. It provides a perfectly comfortable place to live for a long or short time; attractive in its surroundings, complete but modest in its appointments, having that air of refinement essential to the comfort of cultivated people. Every effort is made to have the place as nearly like a home as a public house can well be made, and in carrying out this idea, all the conventional hotel features which are not essential to a proper service are eliminated.
The dining room is commodious and well ventilated, the large windows commanding splendid views of woods and mountains on either side. The table is good, supplied with the best fare, attractively served. Here the difference from the regular hotel is marked by the absence of the usual fancy French dishes, the table being very much like that of a well-conducted  private house.  The dining-room service is performed by quiet and efficient waitresses.
All rooms are front rooms. Those on the west and south open upon a fine view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance, while from the eastern side may be seen Albemarle Park, with its wooded slopes and serpentine macadam roads, and Sunset Mountain in the background. The rooms are well furnished and have beds which are not surpassed by the finest hotels in the large cities. The building is lighted throughout by electricity and thoroughly heated by stream. A number of the rooms have open fire-places in addition to the other means of heating.
The public rooms are numerous and of ample size, and there are several porches on the south, east and west, which add greatly to the comfort of the house.
The management has found it necessary to exclude persons with tuberculosis from The Manor, and as this rule is rigidly enforced, it will be useless for anyone so affected to apply.
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page 5 manor07  [A front view of The Manor.]  manor07.jpg (35469 bytes)
page 6 manor08  Varied amusements are provided for guests. The large and well-arranged ball-room, which was completed in 1903, is an attractive places for entertainments of any kind and especially for dances, which are given at intervals throughout the season. There is also a good stage for use in amateur theatrical performances.
The Albemarle Club, which is within the Park, with its bowling alleys, tennis court, pool and billiard tables, and frequent tournaments, furnishes a constant source of amusement. The large and well-kept lawns are admirably adapted for croquet and clock-golf.
Riding and driving are in high favor, and excellent teams and saddle-horses may be secured from The Manor liverymen at reasonable rates. Splendid macadam roads lead out from Asheville for eight or ten miles in all directions, while the many woodland ways can not be exhausted in weeks of riding and riving.
The golf links of the Swannanoa Country Club practically adjoin the  Park, and as they are kept in the best of condition, they offer great inducement to golfers who are invariably pleased with the variety of play which the course affords.
Good quail shooting may be found all around Asheville in season, and guides who know the country and can secure the required permits can be hired at small expense, together with well-trained dogs. There is also fairly good trout fishing within a radius of forty or fifty miles.
The Asheville Gun Club holds frequent meetings, and gives good sport to those fond of clay-pigeon shooting.
Clustered about The Manor is a group of cottages in which most attractive accommodations for parties may be had. Two of these cottages (Clover and Columbus), are rented complete to single parties, which arrangement has always proved very satisfactory, especially to those making a lengthy stay. In this way guests may have all the privacy of their own homes, with sitting rooms, piazzas, etc., and yet be relieved of the cares of housekeeping, as all this is attended to by
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page 7 manor09 the hotel servants, the occupants taking their meals at The Manor. The other three cottages (Clio, Clematis and Cherokee), are arranged in suites of two, three, four or more rooms, with or without private baths.
A more detailed description of these cottages is as follows:
Clover Cottage.--33 yards from the Manor; lighted by electricity; heated by hot air and hot water; six bed-rooms; two sitting rooms with open fire-place; one bath-room with hot and cold water; two porches; telephone. Rented to one party.
Columbus Cottage.--40 yards from The Manor; lighted by electricity; heated by hot air; five bed-rooms; two sitting rooms with open fire-place; one bath-room with hot and cold water; two porches; telephone. Rented to one party.
Clio Cottage.--88 yards from The Manor; lighted by electricity; heated by hot air; eight bed-rooms; two bath-rooms with hot and cold water; two porches; telephone. Rooms let singly or in suites of two, three, or four rooms. Four rooms gives a party the

 

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page 8 manor10 exclusive use of one floor of the cottage with its bath-room and porch.
Clematis Cottage.--83 yards from The Manor; lighted by electricity; heated by hot air and open fire-places; nine bed-rooms; three bath-rooms with hot and cold water; two porches; telephone. This cottage is let in suites of two, three of our rooms with private bath.
Cherokee Cottage.--127 yards from The Manor; lighted by electricity; heated by hot water and open fire-places; fourteen bed-rooms; four bath-rooms with hot and cold water; five porches (four private and one public); two telephones. This cottage contains single rooms, or suites of two, three, or more rooms with private baths and private porches.
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page 9 manor11 The Albemarle Club was organized and the club-house built in 1902 for the purpose of supplying a convenient and roomy places of amusement for the residents of Albemarle Park and their friends.
The club-house is an artistic and comfortable building, ornamented with Mexican pottery and bright-colored serapes. The large fire-place built of rough clinker brick is a most attractive center for the frequent gatherings in Winter, while the wide piazzas are irresistible in Summer.
Bowling tournaments are held regularly every month for both men and women, and as these are handicap affairs, the expert and the beginner have an equal chance in the sport.
In Summer the tennis court is the scene of many tournaments, and as the Club is known as principal patron of athletics in this section, many fine players are always ready to participate in the matches. The sloping, shady lawns that surround the court, with their numerous rustic benches, give the spectators an excellent opportunity of witnessing the games and make the pleasure of looking on second only to the pleasure of playing.
 
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page 10 manor12 The Swannanoa Country Club is located just beyond The Manor, at the Charlotte Street terminus of the trolley line of the Asheville Electric Company. The Club has 130  acres at the foot of Sunset Mountain, on which has been laid out a nine-hole golf course of 3047 yards. The Club has occupied its present location about four years, which time has spent in improving the course, so that the links are now coming to be known as among the best in the country for turf, location, and scenery.
There are but few artificial hazards except on three or four holes where the greens must be protected to add to the sport of the game; neither are there any impossible holes, yet the length and natural lay of the ground is such that only two players have ever made the bogey score of 41, and only one has ever beaten that, he having made the splendid record of 40 in tournament play for the Southern Championship.
Visiting golfers are welcomed by the Club, the rates for play being $2.00 per week or $5.00 per month.
Many who have played throughout the country claim that they rarely find, outside of the golf centers of the large cities, any links which surpass those of the Swannanoa Country Club.
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page 11 manor13 Map of Golf Links of the Swannanoa Country Club - Asheville, N.C. manor13.jpg (64051 bytes)
page 12 manor14 To persons desiring furnished cottages for housekeeping, those at Albemarle Park offer superior advantages, and the fact that they are usually engaged months in advance is evidence that they are appreciated. All the conveniences of city life are available: water, electricity, sewer connections, paved roads, street-car service, telephones, etc., and yet all the discomforts are lacking. A location on the paved streets of a city usually means annoyance from the noise and dust of a busy thoroughfare; in Albemarle Park the smooth macadam roads attract a moderate amount of pleasure driving, but there is not heavy business traffic. The tenants of the cottages are relieved of the expense of a gardener, as the Company employs a force of men to mow the lawns, water and care for the plants and maintain the Park in the highest degree of cultivation.
Another great advantage, especially to families of women and children, is the protection of the Park against all outside disturbances at night. The entrance is through the Lodge, where anyone coming in falls under the eye of the night watchman, who is continually making his rounds.
The Golf Club and the Albemarle Club add to the attractions of the cottages, as well as the proximity of The Manor where entertainments of different kinds are frequent, and
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page 13 manor15 where the occasional or regular meals may be obtained, freeing the housekeeper from the dangers of the "servant question."
The markets are exceptionally good: deliveries are made twice a day, and as all the stores have telephones, marketing is greatly simplified. Servants are easily secured and are quite satisfactory--about on a par with the colored servants usually encountered.
Local and long distance telephone service may be had from the Bell Telephone Company at a reasonable rental. The service of an experienced fireman to tend the furnaces may be obtained from the Company at a small cost.
A brief description of the four cottages which have already been built is as follows:
Galax Cottage.--Four bed-rooms and bath on second floor; large sitting room, study, dining room, kitchen and pantry on ground floor; two servants' rooms, servants' bath-room, laundry, furnace and fuel room in basement. Also large and attractive south and east porch.
Orchard Cottage.--Four bed-rooms and bath on second floor; reception hall, sitting room, dining room, kitchen and pantry on ground floor; two servants' rooms, servants' bath room, furnace and fuel room in basement. Also a large porch, partially enclosed with removable sash.
Milfoil Cottage.--Two bed-rooms on second floor; two bed-rooms, bath-room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen and pantry on ground floor; servants' room, furnace and fuel room, laundry, in basement. One porch on east and one on west, partly enclosed with removable sash.
Shamrock Cottage.--Three bed-rooms and bath on second floor; reception hall, sitting room, dining room, kitchen and pantry on ground floor; servants' room, furnace and fuel room in basement. Also a western porch.
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page 14 manor16 As the water supply of any city is the most important factor in the health of its residents it seems not amiss to direct attention to the pure water which is offered in inexhaustible quantities to the inhabitants and visitors of Asheville. Until a few years ago the supply was derived from the Swannanoa River at a point five miles above the city, and for many years it was clear and pure. However, as occupation of the lands extended further into the mountains, forests were destroyed and fields opened until the water of the Swannanoa was no longer pure. To meet the new conditions, Asheville's progressive administration appropriated a large sum of money for the purpose of securing a new supply and suitable system for its distribution.
In searching for the best possible watershed, the intelligent officials determined to stop nowhere short of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rockies, and accordingly a vast tract containing sixteen thousand acres was purchased outright by the city, thus guaranteeing for all time a water supply safe from any possible pollution. Water from countless mountain springs and streams, icy cold and clear as crystal, which has never come in contact with any but natural woodland soil, is collected in a reservoir at the foot of Mount Mitchell, and from there is conveyed by gravity through seventeen miles of iron pipe into Asheville.
No city in the world has, or ever can have, finer water than is drawn from every hydrant in this City of the Hills, and as it now is it will always be.
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page 15 manor17  [Floor Plan of the second floor of The Manor.] manor17.jpg (56833 bytes)
page 16 manor18  [Map of the Western End of Albemarle Park.]  manor18.jpg (70831 bytes)