Overlook Castle or Seely Castle is a historic house in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

. It was built from 1912 to 1914 for

Fred Loring Seely Fred Loring Seely (December 22, 1871 – March 14, 1942) was an American newspaperman, chemist, inventor and philanthropist. Born to Uriah and Nancy Hopping Seely, in Monmouth, New Jersey, Fred Seely first worked for the Parke-Davis pharmaceu ...

, the son-in-law of

Edwin Wiley Grove Edwin Wiley Grove (December 27, 1850 – January 27, 1927), commonly known as E. W. Grove, was an American business magnate, entrepreneur, and self-made millionaire. He founded the Paris Medicine Company, creating and producing its most well-kn ...

. He built the castle after his father-in-law gave him ten acres on top of Sunset Mountain. The property was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on October 22, 1980.

History

The house has had five known owners. The Seelys lived there until 1942, when Mr. Seely died at age 70. In the winter of 1949, Evelyn Grove Seely, daughter of entrepreneur

and widow of Fred Seely, offered to sell her former home to the second owner, Asheville-Biltmore College. The college was there from 1949 to 1961, until they outgrew the available facilities. The limited area for developing new buildings caused the trustees to move the college to its current site on the northern edge of Asheville. The third owner was Mr. Jerry Sternberg. He upgraded the heating system from coal to oil fuel and put a new roof on the structure. He planned to turn the house into a museum but his plan never came to fruition. He then sought to turn the facility over to a non-profit organization. Overlook Ministries was the fourth owner. The fifth and current owner is the Wells family. They acquired it in 1984 and restored it.

Architecture

The castle has two large glass windows that offer a panoramic view of Asheville. There are Jacobean ceilings. The castle is situated on the top of the mountain and is surrounded by

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Houses completed in 1914 Houses in Asheville, North Carolina Castles in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Buncombe County, North Carolina