Zealandia

Asheville, United States

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Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗

Zealandia is a historic estate in Asheville, North Carolina, with a complex architectural history spanning more than a century. Originally built in 1889 by John Evans Brown atop Beaucatcher Mountain, the castle was modeled after England's Haddon Hall and constructed of pebbledash-on-brick. After Brown's death in 1895, Australian diplomat Sir Phillip S. Henry acquired the property in 1904 and substantially expanded it with a granite addition, doubling its size. Henry filled the castle with ancient and sacred relics and in 1919 commissioned a fifteenth-century Italian Renaissance-style mural by an artist in the manner of Benozzo Gozzoli, depicting family and friends in classical dress in the old dining room. He also built an imposing Tudor-style stable, since destroyed by fire in 1981, and opened a public museum on the grounds in 1930. The main structure underwent significant changes after World War II, with portions dismantled in 1950. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Zealandia remains a private residence and is not open to the public.