Joseph Silversteen was born in Russia in 1879. By 1902 he and his wife, Elizabeth, had moved to Transylvania County. The family lived in what is known as Silvermont, the
After establishing the Toxaway Tanning Company in 1902, Joseph Silversteen purchased 20 thousand acres from the Vanderbilt Estate and started the Gloucester Lumber Company in 1910.
Before Silvermont was built in 1917, Joseph and Elizabeth Silversteen lived in a two-story house in Rosman. The distinctive one-story porch sheltered a central entrance and was supported by columns,