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Description - The Manor
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[Cover] The Manor - Albermarle Park - Asheville, N.C.
- Owned and Operated by Albermarle Park Co. |
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| Back Cover |
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[Back cover] "For All Seasons" - Asheville, N.C.
The Manor - "For a Year or a Day" |
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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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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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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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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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[A front view of The Manor.] |
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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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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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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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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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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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Map of Golf Links of the Swannanoa Country
Club - Asheville, N.C. |
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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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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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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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[Floor Plan of the second floor of The
Manor.] |
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[Map of the Western End of Albemarle
Park.] |
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