Listen to Nan Graham’s commentary on WHQR.org about the life of architect Rafael Guastavino in North Carolina, and how he became an “accidental southerner” after constructing arches for the famous Bilmore Mansion.  He would spend the rest of his life living in the Smokey Mountains, during which time he designed the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville – also his final resting place.

Inside dome of the Basilica of St. Lawrence, and final resting place of Raphael Guastavino (d.1908) in Asheville, North Carolina.