Silvermont Park

The Silvermont mansion is a 33 room, Colonial Revival home on eight acres of landscaped grounds near downtown Brevard. Now a county park that is being lovingly restored and maintained by the volunteer organization Friends of Silvermont, the gracious Southern home was built by Transylvania County’s first industrialist, Joseph Simpson Silversteen, a Russian immigrant, and his Pennsylvania-born wife, Elizabeth Jeane Mount.

An ambitious man who saw opportunity in his new country, Silversteen’s impact on the region was significant after he and his bride settled here. After an apprenticeship as a tannery worker, he founded the Toxaway Tanning Company in what is now Rosman, which was named after two of his business partners. Silversteen went on to start several tannery-related and lumber companies, employing several hundred during the company’s peak years in the 1950s. A complete history can be found here.

After extensive repair and renovation, the Silversteen’s family home now houses a community center, museum, gallery, Master Gardener demonstration gardens, tennis courts, children’s playgrounds, basketball court, trail and community gathering plaza. A schedule of community events includes the annual Lighted Pumpkin Patch and Revenge of the White Squirrels fundraiser. A strategic plan of ongoing renovations are preparing for the Silvermont Centennial in 2017.

Local musicians gather at Silvermont during the weekly Thursday night Mountain Music jams from 7:30 – 10 pm.