Asheville is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous city. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,589, up from 83,393 in the 2010 census. It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, which had a population of 424,858 in 2010, and of 469,015 in 2020.
George Franklin Barber was an American architect known for the house designs he marketed worldwide through mail-order catalogs. Barber was one of the most successful residential architects of the late Victorian period in the United States, and his plans were used for houses in all 50 U.S. states, and in nations as far away as Japan and the Philippines. Over four dozen Barber houses are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and several dozen more are listed as part of historic districts.
Richard Sharp Smith was an English-born American architect, associated with Biltmore Estate and Asheville, North Carolina. Clay Griffith with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office says, "The influence of Richard Sharp Smith’s architecture in Asheville and western North Carolina during the first quarter of the twentieth century cannot be overstated." His vernacular style combines elements of Craftsman, Colonial Revival, English cottage, Shingle, and Tudor Revival architectural styles. He is associated with some of America's important architectural firms of the late 19th century—Richard Morris Hunt, Bradford Lee Gilbert, and Reid & Reid.
Sears House is a historic home located at Staunton, Virginia. It was built about 1860, and is a 1+1⁄2-story, frame dwelling representative of a small "bracketed cottage" popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing. It is sheathed with board-and-batten and is covered with a cross-gable roof. It features long, shallow-scrolled roof brackets, a three-bay arcaded front porch, and a three-story octagonal-ended tower covered by a shallow hipped roof with dentiled cornice. It was the home of Dr. Barnas Sears (1802-1880), a prominent educator, who owned and occupied the house from 1867 until his death.
Mrs. Minnie Alexander Cottage is a historic home located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. It was designed by Richard Sharp Smith and built about 1905. It is a two-story, rectangular frame dwelling with a number of projecting bays. The exterior walls are plastered with a roughcast concrete aggregate. It has a hip roof with deep overhanging eaves and brackets. The house has been converted to accommodate offices.
Manor and Cottages is a historic resort complex and national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The complex encompassed 36 contributing buildings that were built starting in 1898. The main hotel, The Manor, was built starting in 1898–1899, and consists of a rambling group of interconnected wings with elements of the Colonial Revival, Shingle Style, and Tudor Revival styles. Wings were added to the original building in 1903 and 1913–1914. Located on the property are the contributing Club House and a 19 guest cottages built between 1899 and 1920. The hotel was later converted for use as a retirement hotel for elderly persons with limited incomes.
Biltmore Village Cottage District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 14 contributing residential buildings in Biltmore Village. They were designed by Richard Sharp Smith and built about 1900 for George W. Vanderbilt. The dwellings are 1 1/2- to two-story, pebbledash finished half-timbered cottages with recessed porches, multiple gables, steeply pitched roofs, simple molded trim, one or more brick chimneys, and brick foundations.
Biltmore Village Cottages are two historic homes formerly located at Biltmore Village, Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. They were designed by Richard Sharp Smith and built about 1900. The dwellings are pebbledash finished half-timbered cottages. They were moved outside the district in August 1983.
Chestnut Hill Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 238 contributing buildings and 1 contributing structure in a predominantly residential section of Asheville. It was developed in the late-19th and early-20th century and includes Colonial Revival, Queen Anne-influenced, and bracketed Victorian style dwellings. At least eight of the houses were designed by architect Richard Sharp Smith.
Grove Park Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 290 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in a predominantly residential section Asheville. The planned suburban community was originally platted and developed in 1908-1913 and 1914. It includes representative examples of Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Bungalow style dwellings. The community was laid out by noted landscape architect Chauncey Beadle. The Kimberly Amendment to Grove Park was an expansion made to the original Grove Park development in 1923. It includes the former Asheville Country Club, now the Grove Park Inn Country Club.
Clingman Avenue Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompassed 33 contributing buildings in a historically African-American residential section of Asheville. It was largely developed in the early-20th century and includes representative examples of Queen Anne and Bungalow style dwellings.
Norwood Park Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 154 contributing buildings and one contributing structures in a predominantly residential section of Asheville. The property was largely developed in the first three decades of the 20th century, and includes representative examples of Colonial Revival and Bungalow style dwellings.
Proximity Park Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 62 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site in a predominantly residential section of Asheville. The district was largely developed in early-20th century, and includes representative examples of Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, and Bungalow style dwellings. Located in the district is the separately listed St. Mary's Church (1914) and rectory (1923) designed by architect Richard Sharp Smith.
Riverside Industrial Historic District, also known as Asheville Wholesale District, is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 27 contributing buildings and 1 contributing structure in a predominantly industrial section of Asheville. Notable buildings include the Orpheus and Bertha Keener House, American Feed Milling Company, Italianate style Carolina Coal & Ice Company, Asheville Cotton Mill Cloth Warehouse, Standard Oil Company complex, and Farmers Federation Building.
Eliada Home is a national historic district located near Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district originally encompassed 10 contributing buildings and 3 contributing sites associated with a youth home complex in suburban Asheville. Of the original 10, only 5 remain. They included the early residential, administrative, and agricultural buildings of the home as well as a residence, a tabernacle site, a log guest cabin, and a cemetery. The primary buildings were the Main Building and the Allred Cottage (1930). The buildings included representative examples of the Colonial Revival, Bungalow, Bungalow/craftsman, and Tudor Revival styles.
West Asheville–Aycock School Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 10 contributing buildings in a commercial and institutional section of West Asheville. It includes one and two-story brick civic and commercial buildings, dating from about 1915 to 1936. Their development was influenced by streetcar service along the Haywood Road corridor that operated from 1910 to 1934. Notable buildings contributing to the historic district include the McGeachy Filling Station, Buckner Building, West Asheville Fire Station (1922), Charles B. Aycock School (1953), West Asheville Bank and Trust Company, DeLuxe Barber Shop (1927), and Universal Motors (1928).
Blue Ridge Assembly Historic District is a national historic district located near Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 29 contributing buildings and 1 contributing object associated with the Blue Ridge Assembly, conference center of the Young Men's Christian Association. The main building is Eureka Hall designed by Louis E. Jallade. It was built in 1911–1912, and is a three-story, seven bay, frame building with a full-height octastyle portico. Also located on the large central courtyard are the Gymnasium, Asheville Hall (1926), Abbott Hall (1927), and College Hall. Other notable buildings include the Martha Washington Residence, Craft and Child Care Center, and 19 frame cottages (1913-1927). Black Mountain College was founded here in 1933 and operated on the site until 1941.
Downtown Asheville Historic District is a national historic district located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. The district encompasses about 279 contributing buildings and one contributing object in the central business district of Asheville. It includes commercial, institutional, and residential buildings in a variety of popular architectural styles including Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, and Art Deco.
Masonboro Sound Historic District is a national historic district located near Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 22 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, 8 contributing structures, and 1 contributing object near Wilmington. The district developed during the 19th and early-20th century and includes notable examples of Italian Renaissance and Colonial Revival style architecture. There are 10 contributing dwellings and 13 contributing outbuildings. Notable dwellings include the Carr-Ormand House (1932), Willard-Sprunt-Woolvin House (1880), Cazaux-Williams-Crow House, Parsley-Love House, Live Oaks (1913), Taylor-Bissinger House (1937), the "Doll House" (1924), and Hill-Anderson Cottage.
The Asheville Masonic Temple is a Masonic Temple located in Asheville, North Carolina. Designed by British American architect and Freemason Richard Sharp Smith, the building was opened in April 1915. It is listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Downtown Asheville Historic District.
