A Life Worth Living (14 page)

About the Author

IRENE BRAND is a lifelong resident of West Virginia, where she lives with her husband, Rod. Irene’s first inspirational romance was published in 1984, and since that time she has had multiple books published. She is the author of four nonfiction books, various devotional materials, and her writings have appeared in numerous historical, religious, and general magazines. Irene became a Christian at the age of eleven and continues to be actively involved in her local church. Before retiring in 1989 to devote full time to freelance writing, Irene taught for twenty-three years in secondary public schools. Many of her books have been inspired while traveling to forty-nine of the United States and twenty-four foreign countries.

Dedication

To Mary Lynn Bechtle,

my longtime friend and faithful reader.

A note from the Author:

I love to hear from my readers! You may correspond with me by writing:

Irene Brand

Author Relations

PO Box 721

Uhrichsville, OH 44683

Author’s Note

With the coming of the Western North Carolina Railroad in 1879, a new day dawned for Asheville, North Carolina. Because of the cool weather in the summer and a moderate winter climate, visitors were drawn to this plateau bordered by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Great Smoky Mountains on the west. Among the first settlers was George Vanderbilt, who first visited Asheville in 1888. Finding the air mild and invigorating, he enjoyed the scenery and soon made plans to build a summer residence in the area. Intending to replicate the working estates he’d visited in Europe, he commissioned a prominent New York architect to plan a house that featured ideas he’d learned from mansions he’d visited in the Loire Valley, France. He named the estate Biltmore, which included its own village. To make the property self-supporting, he established scientific forestry programs and separate farms for poultry, cattle, hogs, and also a dairy. After Vanderbilt’s death in 1914, the estate was sold to the federal government.