Our beautiful neighborhood is named for one of Asheville’s most noteworthy citizens, Foster Alexander Sondley. Sondley was a Buncombe County native, born in 1857. He graduated from Wofford College in 1876, studied law, and went on to become one of the preeminent lawyers in this part of the country. Real estate was one of his primary areas of expertise — he did much of the legal work for George Vanderbilt as the Biltmore Estate was being created. Widely read and expert in state law, history, and geography, Sondley served on the first North Carolina Historical Commission and fostered the development of the Buncombe County Historical Society. In 1911, Sondley moved to the massive stone home he constructed along Haw Creek, calling it, “Finis Viae”, Latin for “end of the road”. At his new residence, Sondley collected every document and artifact he could locate concerning North Carolina history, including a library of nearly 30,000 volumes. When he died in 1931, Sondley left his library and collections to the City of Asheville. This generous contribution laid the cornerstone for what would become the esteemed Sondley Reference Library, enriching the Pack Memorial Library with a trove of historical treasures for generations to come.