Chester Lord of “Lord Place” and the Start of the “pretty little religious village” of Montreat
Extensively researched article by Dale Wayne Slusser, published May 2021 by the Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County (PSABC)
A 1915 photo shows a view of the valley, including the house built by Chester Case Lord in 1897. "Located on Georgia Terrace, is is Montreat's oldest structure, now called Chestnut Lodge. The descendent of Abraham Pierson, Yale's first president, Chester Lord, age 41, was working in a New Haven hardware store when his doctor gave him six months to live. Moving to Montreat in 1897, he became its first permanent resident. He ran a boardinghouse in his home, sold fire insurance, managed a store, served as postmaster (1922-32), was an elder in the church (1914-41), supervised the building of the first auditorium and dam, and was the father of physician Dr. Margery Lord, the first female health official in North Carolina. He lived to be 86."
Standaert, Mary McPhail and Joseph Standaert, Montreat (Postcard History series), Arcadia Publishing, 2009.