Misplaced Pages

#314685

36-613: Guastavino is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Rafael Guastavino (1842–1908), Spanish architect and builder Jean-Marie Guastavino (1886-1960), French politician Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000), Argentine composer Pedro Guastavino (born 1954), Argentine politician Diego Guastavino (born 1984), Uruguayan football player Vera Guastavino (born 1957), Belgian Physician See also [ edit ] Guastavino tile , patented by Rafael Guastavino in 1885 [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with

72-400: A wine cellar . The property holds artifacts that may be visited, including the kiln and chimney, a wine cellar, beautiful old stone walls, and many smaller structures that have been rediscovered as modern buildings have been constructed there. Guastavino and his son also developed twenty-four products that were awarded patents. Their company, Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company, run by

108-454: A United States Senator from Rhode Island. The Vanderbilts' only child, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt , married a British aristocrat, the Hon. John Francis Amherst Cecil (a descendant of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley ) in 1924. Their sons, George and William , eventually inherited the property. George Cecil, the elder of the two sons, chose to inherit the majority of the estate's land and

144-525: A maiden voyage". It's possible the warning was acknowledged and heeded. In any case, Edith, in a letter to her friend Emily Ford Skeel (sister of Paul Leicester Ford ), explained: "For no reason whatsoever we decided to sail on the Olympic and had only 18 hours to get ready in. We were homesick, and simply felt we must get home, and changed our ship, as I say, at the Eleventh hour!" Unfortunately, however,

180-495: A relationship with Francesca Ramirez, who was much younger than he was, and he pretended Francesca was his daughter until they moved to North Carolina in the early 1890s. They married in 1894, when Guastavino was 51 and she was 33. At that time, he tried searching for his ex-wife and sons but had no luck. After working on a commission at the Biltmore Estate , Guastavino retired to Black Mountain . The site of his estate

216-547: A relationship with their adopted daughter Pilar. When he was 17 and she was 16, Pilar became pregnant, and the two married. They had three sons together, but Guastavino had an affair with nanny Paulina Roig, after which Pilar left her husband, later moving to Argentina. It is believed Paulina was the mother of Guastavino's fourth son Rafael Jr., and the three, along with the two previous daughters she had, moved to New York City together in 1881. However, Paulina and her two daughters returned to Spain that same year. Guastavino began

252-604: A servant to the Vanderbilts, Frederick Wheeler, perished aboard Titanic in second class, as, due to the close timing of their switch, the Vanderbilts were forced to leave most of their luggage aboard Titanic , and so Wheeler retained his ticket to travel with it. Vanderbilt died of complications following an appendectomy in Washington, D.C. , on March 6, 1914. He was interred in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum at

288-427: A stroke, he left a fortune of approximately $ 200 million, the bulk of which was split between his two elder sons, Cornelius Vanderbilt II and William K. Vanderbilt . George W. Vanderbilt had inherited $ 2 million from his grandfather and received another million dollars on his 21st birthday from his father. Upon his father's death, he inherited $ 5 million more, as well as the income from a $ 5 million trust fund. He ran

324-718: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Rafael Guastavino Based on the Catalan vault , he created the Guastavino tile , a "Tile Arch System", patented in the United States in 1885, which was used for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar . His work appears in numerous prominent projects designed by major architectural firms in New York and other cities of

360-898: Is found in Duke Chapel in Durham , the Jefferson Standard Building in Greensboro , the Motley Memorial in Chapel Hill , and Basilica Shrine of St. Mary in Wilmington . He is buried in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Lawrence, Asheville , which he designed in 1905. Notes Further reading George W. Vanderbilt George Washington Vanderbilt II (November 14, 1862 – March 6, 1914)

396-546: Is no evidence to suggest that he referred to himself using a numerical suffix, various sources have called him both George Washington Vanderbilt II and III. Biltmore recognizes him as George W. Vanderbilt III, because he had two uncles by that name, the first of whom died at the age of four. As the youngest of William's children, George was said to be his father's favorite and his constant companion. Relatives described him as slender, dark-haired, and pale-complexioned. Shy and introverted, his interests ran to philosophy, books, and

SECTION 10

#1732791498315

432-613: Is now used as Christmount, the conference and retreat center of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . Ruins of the original Guastavino Estate still stand, and a collection of Guastavino memorabilia is held in the Christmount library. The Rafael Guastavino, Sr., Estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. In North Carolina Guastavino completed a number of projects: his work

468-897: The Boston Public Library ; in New York City , in the Grand Central Terminal , Grant's Tomb , Carnegie Hall , the American Museum of Natural History , Congregation Emanu-El of New York , and St. Bartolomew's Episcopal Church ; and in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Supreme Court building and the National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall . Guastavino tiles form the domes of Philadelphia 's St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church . At Pittsburgh 's Union Station ,

504-599: The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan : it is 100 ft (30 m) in diameter and 160 feet (49 m) high. This dome was intended to be a temporary structure, to be replaced by a high central tower. In 2009 this "temporary" fix celebrated the 100th anniversary of its construction. Guastavino received this contract due to the much lower price he could quote because his system served as its own scaffolding. This

540-798: The Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp in Staten Island, New York . After his death, Vanderbilt's widow sold approximately 86,000 acres (350 km ) of the Biltmore property to the United States Forest Service at $ 5 an acre, fulfilling her husband's wishes to create the core of Pisgah National Forest . She sold additional land as finances demanded; today, about 8,000 acres (32 km ) remain. Edith Dresser Vanderbilt later married Peter Goelet Gerry (1879–1957),

576-856: The Sons of the American Revolution . The next year Vanderbilt gifted his private gallery on 58th Street in Manhattan to the American Fine Arts Society . During the early 1900s, the Vanderbilts developed a pair of residences at 645 and 647 Fifth Avenue . George was the first owner of number 647. Living in one or another of his family residences well into adulthood, Vanderbilt decided to construct his own country mansion and estate in 1888. For this purpose, he acquired 125,000 acres of woodland in North Carolina, employing

612-417: The surname Guastavino . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guastavino&oldid=1246242717 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description

648-766: The "red and whites"), on Manhattan 's Upper West Side . Another of his structures, now used as an event space called Guastavino's, is located under the Midtown Manhattan end of the Queensboro Bridge . His son Rafael's Mediterranean villa (1912), built entirely of Guastavino tiles, still stands on Awixa Avenue , in Bay Shore , Long Island and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Guastavino lived with his aunt and uncle when he studied architecture in Barcelona , and he had

684-663: The Estate or were employed on the Estate), so that the church's weekly collection could go directly to charity and outreach. On June 1, 1898, Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser (January 17, 1873 – December 21, 1958) at the American Cathedral in Paris , France. George and Edith had one daughter together, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (August 22, 1900 - February 7, 1976). In 1912, George and Edith booked passage on

720-462: The Northeast. Guastavino tile is found in some of New York's most prominent Beaux-Arts landmarks and in major buildings across the United States. It is also used in numerous architecturally important and famous buildings with vaulted spaces. In 1881 Guastavino came to New York City from Valencia , with his youngest son, nine-year-old Rafael Jr. In Spain he had been an accomplished architect and

756-536: The Spanish Renaissance style caught the eye of an architect, who asked him to submit a design for the planned New York Progress Club building. After forming a partnership with William Blodgett, Guastavino eventually was offered a construction position in 1890 with George W. Vanderbilt to construct arches for the new mansion, Biltmore Estate at Asheville, North Carolina . After working on the estate, Guastavino decided to build his own retirement home in

SECTION 20

#1732791498315

792-619: The architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a limestone house modeled on the Chateau de Blois and other chateaux of the Loire Valley . With up to four acres of floor space, this is believed to be the largest domestic dwelling ever constructed in the United States. At Biltmore, Vanderbilt led the life of a country gentleman. Having a great interest in horticulture and agriscience, he oversaw experiments in scientific farming, animal bloodline breeding, and silviculture (forestry). His goal

828-522: The collection of paintings in his father's large art gallery. He acquired a private library of more than twenty thousand volumes. In addition to frequent visits to Paris , France, where several Vanderbilts kept homes, George Vanderbilt traveled extensively and became fluent in several languages. His father owned elegant mansions in New York City and Newport , and an 800-acre (3.2 km ) country estate on Long Island. When William died in 1885 of

864-427: The doomed Titanic , but they changed their plans at the last minute via telephone, instead sailing on her sister ship, Olympic . Olympic left port before Titanic , and the Vanderbilts arrived in New York before the sinking. Accounts vary, but it has been suggested that a family member (reportedly his wife's well-travelled sister) warned the pair from travelling on Titanic , saying, "so many things can go wrong on

900-475: The family farm at New Dorp and Woodland Beach, now the neighborhood of Midland Beach , on Staten Island , New York , where he was born, then lived with his mother in Manhattan until his own townhouse at 9 West 53rd Street was completed in 1887. The Vanderbilt family business was operated by his elder brothers. This left him time for intellectual pursuits. In 1891, he joined the New York Society of

936-475: The father and then by his son, was incorporated in 1889. It executed its final contract in 1962. Akoustolith was one of several trade names used by Guastavino. Hundreds of major building projects incorporate the distinctive Tile Arch System . In Chicago , the central nave vaulting of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago uses 100,000 Guastavino tiles. In Boston , Guastavino tiles are found in

972-404: The mountains of Black Mountain, North Carolina in a 500-acre valley. His property, Rhododendron , also had a vineyard, dairy, brick kiln, and more. This property currently is owned by Christmount Assembly, the conference center for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) . Guastavino's wife Francesca remained in the house until she died in 1946, and all that remains is a brick foundation and

1008-465: The north side on West 73rd Street, as well as the construction of the subterranean basement, and the 3-foot thick arched floors between the basement and attic levels. Guastavino was commissioned by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White for their Boston Public Library (1889), which increased his reputation with every major architect on the East Coast. His published drawings of interior decoration of

1044-646: The vaulting of the carriage turnaround is a Guastavino tile system. Wall and vault tiles are by Guastavino at the Buffalo Central Terminal . In Nebraska , the tiles may be seen in the Nebraska State Capitol . In 1900, New York architects Heins & LaFarge hired Guastavino to help construct City Hall station , the underground showpiece for the IRT , the first part of the then-new New York City Subway . The station, although elegant,

1080-568: The younger Rafael Guastavino III was commissioned to rebuild the ceiling of the Ellis Island Great Hall. The Guastavinos set 28,258 tiles into a self-supporting interlocking 56-foot (17 m)-high ceiling grid so durable and strong that during the restoration project of the 1980s only seventeen of those tiles had to be replaced. The largest dome created by the Guastavino Company was over the central crossing for

1116-561: Was a contemporary of Antoni Gaudí . In the March 7, 1885 article entitled "The Dakota Apartment House", printed in The Real Estate Record and Builders Guide , Guastavino was identified as the contractor in charge of "fireproof construction" of the luxury apartment building, which was completed in 1884. Though not specified, the work may very well have included the groined vault entries on the south side on West 72nd Street, and

Guastavino - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-443: Was an American art collector and member of the prominent Vanderbilt family , which amassed a huge fortune through steamboats , railroads , and various business enterprises . He commissioned the construction of a 250-room mansion, the largest privately owned home in the United States , which he named Biltmore Estate . George W. Vanderbilt II was the youngest child of William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam. Though there

1188-471: Was an extreme test of his system, however. The masons had to work from above, each day adding a few rows of tiles, and standing on the previous day's work to make progress. At the edges, many layers of tile were laid, and the dome thins as it rises toward the center. Few structures designed and built by Guastavino alone have been identified. He was responsible for a series of surviving rowhouses with unusual Mooresque features on West 78th Street (121–131 known as

1224-640: Was known for his generosity toward his employees at Biltmore. Every year, he held a Christmas celebration for their children, complete with decorated tree and presents for each child, even those who could not make it to the party. He also paid all the expenses of the Cathedral of All Souls , an Episcopal cathedral he'd built and was a parishioner of, located directly across from the Biltmore Estate's main gate in Biltmore Village (the model village he had built for those who had worked to build

1260-588: Was never convenient or popular, as it was superseded by nearby stops with connections to Brooklyn. After the city closed it in 1945 because needed upgrades were too expensive, it became a legendary abandoned Manhattan underground relic. Subway buffs and urban spelunkers knew about it. Guastavino also installed the ceiling of the south arcade of the Manhattan Municipal Building , which was constructed during 1907-1914. The Guastavinos had entered New York as immigrants via Ellis Island . In 1917

1296-612: Was to run Biltmore as a self-sustaining estate. In 1892, Frederick Law Olmsted suggested that Vanderbilt hire Gifford Pinchot to manage the forests on the estate. According to Pinchot, who went on to be the first Chief of the United States Forest Service , Biltmore was the first professionally managed forest in the U.S. It was also the site of the Biltmore School of Forestry , the first such school in North America, established in 1898 by Dr. Carl A. Schenck . Vanderbilt

#314685