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Black Mountain: |
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Gombroon |
The mystique of Gombroon--some spell it Gombroom--is still in the mountain air. But the reality, according to Rick Patton, Secretary of Black Mountain 663, is long gone.
Senator Zeb Vance and second-wife Florence summered at their unique retreat in the mountains which Zeb revered throughout his life. The couple lovingly discovered and improved the place eight miles north of Black Mountain Station on the Western North Carolina Railroad.
Considered modern in architectural style, it would be dubbed Victorian today. The photo published here appeared in Life of Zebulon B. Vance by Clement Dowd. Like Vance, it speaks for itself.
The huge house was surrounded by lofty peaks and dense forest. There were vineyards, orchards, gardens, outbuildings, a spring house and a dairy—all the comforts of an immodest summer home for the Vances when they could break away from their active Senate and social life in Washington.
Brother Patton reports: “Before the City of Asheville completely stopped people from being on the watershed property where Gombroon once stood, I had the chance to view the remains of the once magnificent structure. Nothing left but a few blocks and some rocks of what was the foundation, unfortunately. It’s about 50 yards from the water at full level of the reservoir.”
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Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com
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