In the 1920s the S&W Cafeteria was a newly emerging restaurant type, which originated on the West Coast. It was designed for speed, convenience and comfort. Architect Douglas Ellington designed the building and gave it a modern Art Deco look. The S&W Cafeteria is probably the finest example of an Art Deco style building in Asheville.
Architect Albert C. Wirth, who had just moved to Asheville in 1925, had to overcome two challenges in his first commission of designing the Flat Iron Building: the first was the odd lot and the second was to offer enough business rental space at this prime real estate location. How did he do it?
The Historic Bon Marché Department Store is a modern commercial building with 4 stories, which Edwin Grove built for his friend Solomon Lipinsky in 1923. The building was used as a department store until the mid 1970s. Today, the building is home to the Haywood Park Hotel, a 33-room boutique hotel.
Commissioned to build an impressive building, where the rich and powerful of the early 1900s could meet, Richard Sharpe Smith architected the three-story Miles Building with large columns on either side of the entrance and an equally impressive interior. Herbert Miles bought the building in 1919 and converted it to shops and office space. However, some remnants of the original building can still be seen today.
The 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena known as the U.S. Cellular Center hosts many of the large concerts, meetings, trade shows, athletic competitions and artistic performances. It is the largest event venue in the area. The smaller Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is also the home of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium offers many musical performances throughout the year.
During the building boom of the 1920, the George Vanderbilt Hotel was part of a newly created retail, business and hotel district formed by the Grove Arcade and the Battery Park Hotel on one side and the George Vanderbilt Hotel on the other. Not much of the past can still be seen today after the face of the building was completely remodeled in the late 1960s, when it was converted into an apartment building.
Although not an active hotel since 1972, today the former Battery Park Hotel houses businesses on the first floor and private senior apartments above. Still worth a visit today, the site is most probably one of very few locations, where Asheville’s transformation from a romantic mountain town to a major tourist destination becomes visible.
Considered the largest free standing elliptical dome in North America, the Basilica of Saint Lawrence is named after the famous Deacon and Martyr Saint Lawrence, who in the third century gave his life for the poor of the Church. Visitors may notice the unique atmosphere in the Basilica which the wonderful tile work helps to create.
When Samuel Kress founded his retail business, his stores not only offered customers in smaller cities quality goods at the lowest possible price, but he also wanted the buildings themselves to stand out architecturally. The decorative tile work and signage are some examples, which can still be seen today.
The Thomas Wolfe Memorial is the former boarding house, where Thomas Wolfe, the author of “Look Homeward, Angel” lived until age 16. He called it “Dixieland” in his book. If you had the chance to read his book, you can draw parallels to some of the events described there. The Thomas Wolfe Memorial is also a wonderful site to see early 1900s living. Guided tours are available.
Inspired by the Renaissance architecture of the famous cathedral and dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, Douglas Ellington completed the First Baptist Church in 1927. It was his first commission. Although following Beaux Arts planning concepts of formality and symmetry, some decorative elements like his stylized feather motif or palm leaf seem to give some hints to his later art deco styled designs.
The art deco styled Asheville City Hall is considered one of Douglas Ellington’s best designs. According to John Nolen’s master plan for Asheville, the City Hall was supposed to be paired with the Buncombe County Courthouse. An intense battle between the county commissioners, who preferred a neo-classical design, and the city officials, who favored Ellington’s art deco style, led to a deep rift between these two commissions and finally to two differently designed buildings.
During the building boom of the 1920s, William Westall’s business prospered, as he supplied many of the building materials to the construction sites. The Westall Building is very narrow and shares an elevator with the adjacent Jackson Building. But there was also an interesting family connection.
Trying to cash in on Asheville’s building boom of the 1920s, 28 year old real estate developer L. B. Jackson commissioned architect Ronald Greene to create a unique and fascinating building on just a tiny lot. Thirteen stories high, the neo-gothic design of the Jackson Building was certainly an eye catcher back then and still stands out to this day.
The Historic Cottage District in Biltmore Village is the largest surviving group of cottages that were constructed by George Vanderbilt for single family housing in Biltmore Village. The Cottage District follows Richard Hunt’s and Frederick Olmsted’s concept in terms of layout and design, upon which Richard Smith tastefully expanded.
In 1921, after fire had broken out twice in the Clarence Barker Memorial Hospital in Biltmore Village, Edith Vanderbilt gave 15 acres to build a new Biltmore Hospital using fireproof materials. Between 1923 and 1928, many fundraisers were held to help with the financing of the new hospital, which Douglas Ellington was commissioned to architect in 1929.
The Historic Clarence Barker Memorial Hospital opened in 1900 with space for only 10 patients, and was fully paid for by George Vanderbilt. By 1905, a six-room south wing extension with an operating room was completed. Two fires in January and March of 1921 almost entirely destroyed the hospital.
During the post Vanderbilt-era in the 1920s, the Historic Biltmore Hardware Building was part of a broader trend toward more extensive commercial development in the village. It is now considered one of the three most significant architectural landmarks in Biltmore Village from that time period.
The Historic McGeachy Building was designed by local architect Ronald Greene as a two story commercial structure to house shops and a larger meeting area on the second floor. It was completed in 1928 and exemplifies the architectural design during Asheville’s prosperous boom period of the 1920s.
