Harrie T. Lindeberg in North Carolina
Ellsleigh, c. 1927. Photo by Phil Goodwin
I am a major fan of the architect Harrie T. Lindeberg, one of the most admired of the first half of the 20th century.
I would say that his curved stone English manor for Harry French Knight (1923) in the St. Louis, MO suburb Ladue, was one of the homes that ignited my fascination with architecture. Just down the street from my aunt and uncle, I remember asking them to drive by slowly over and over so I could try to understand it from the road.
Harry Knight House, c. 1923. Ladue, MO
Fast forward to today, and my family and I are living in North Carolina. About an hour away, in Asheville, tourists from near and far flock to gawk at the Biltmore, the largest and arguably most famous home in America. But, what fewer realize, is that just down the street is Biltmore Forest, a stunning mountain country club and neighborhood dotted with smaller estates designed by many great country house architects of the early 20th century.
Ellsleigh, c. 1927. Photo by Phil Goodwin
It is there in 1926 that Robert and Nan Ellis, owners of the local Coca-Cola bottling operation (in the South, some of the biggest fortunes of the time came from Coca-Cola largess), hired Harrie T. Lindeberg to build a house. They called it Ellsleigh, and it is one of only a few houses by Lindeberg in the state.
By that time, Lindeberg and his New York practice were busy building homes in elite enclaves throughout the country. Though most of his work was in the greater New York area, he was also a popular choice in Lake Forest, IL near Chicago, throughout New England, the Midwest, and the upper South, and in Houston, TX with protégé John F. Staub.
Lindeberg was probably familiar to the Ellis’ through his work at the nearby Asheville Country Club and the sprawling tudor revival mansion he designed in 1925 for Gov. Cameron Morrison in Charlotte, NC. As a side note, he later oversaw the 1929 renovation of the Duke Mansion for textile baron Martin L. Cannon.
Morrocroft Manor, c. 1925. Photo by Dandridge Sterne
The term Georgian Revival is tossed around loosely (including by me), but Ellsleigh is a proper English Georgian, inspired by Tintinhull House in Somerset, England. He was committed to architectural consistency and sparred with the Ellis’ over the windows, which he insisted must be divided by mullions, over the width and ornamentation of the staircase, and the size of doors.
Lindeberg was persnickety, but it paid off in the end, as you can see in his correspondence about several architectural details:
In the end, Lindeberg masterfully blended his almost academic commitment to architectural purity with modern requirements of the time to create a timeless yet livable home that the Ellis’ enjoyed for generations.
For a particularly interesting look into the home, please check out “Uncovering Lindeberg – The Ellsleigh Estate” produced by the North Carolina Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art (ICAA). It includes interviews with architect Gregory Koester, Ellis descendants Kip and Anne Warlick, and current owner Paul Foster.
