Zealandia is an historic home located at

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

Buncombe County, North Carolina Buncombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is classified within Western North Carolina. The 2020 census reported the population was 269,452. Its county seat is Asheville. Buncombe County is part of the Asheville ...

. It was built in 1908, and is a three-story, "T"-plan,

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style dwelling. It features a three-story

porte cochere Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

, projecting masses, steep gables, heavy wrought iron entrance gates, and massive chimneys. In 1884, after thirty years of fortune-making in New Zealand, John Evans Brown returned to Asheville to build his dream castle atop Beaucatcher Mountain. Brown called his castle Zealandia. Completed in 1889, Zealandia is a pebbledash-on-brick enclosure modeled after Haddon Hall in England. Six years later, John Evans Brown died and Zealandia passed to O.D. Revell. In 1904, Sir Phillip S. Henry, an Australian born diplomat acquired Zealandia. Under Sir Henry, Zealandia flourished. The castle doubled in size with a granite addition and was filled with ancient and sacred relics. In 1919, Sir Henry commissioned an artist to paint a mural in the style of the fifteenth century Italian painter, Benozzo Gozoli. This mural, located in the old dining room, portrays family members and friends clad in classical robes, posing languidly with hounds, horses and flowers. In 1930, Sir Henry opened a public museum on the grounds of Zealandia. An avid equestrian, Sir Henry also built an imposing Tudor-style stable for his horses. The stable was destroyed by fire in 1981. Zealandia passed to Violet Henry, Sir Henry's daughter, and her husband British General Hartley Maconochie. After WWII, the Maconochie's attempts to sell Zealandia were futile. In 1950, portions of the original castle were dismantled for economic and safety reasons. In 1976, the construction of Interstate 240 demolished part of Beaucatcher Mountain, including the structure that once housed the public museum. Despite fervid community protests and registration as a National Historic Place, the old museum fell. Zealandia is not open to the public.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Tudor Revival architecture in North Carolina Houses completed in 1908 Houses in Asheville, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Buncombe County, North Carolina 1908 establishments in North Carolina {{BuncombeCountyNC-NRHP-stub