The Montford Area Historic District is a mainly residential neighborhood in

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populous city in Western North Carolina a ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

that is included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

According to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

the origin of the name Montford is unknown. In 1893, Montford was incorporated as an autonomous village to the north of Asheville. This was a tiny community of about 50 people, mainly local businessmen and their families. In 1889 the Asheville Loan, Construction, and Improvement Company began to develop the neighborhood. The firm purchased and subdivided tracts of undeveloped land north of Battery Park and sold lots. The enterprise languished until it was taken over by George Willis Pack, a lumber tycoon from the midwest who moved to Asheville in 1885. He is best known today as a philanthropist and benefactor of the Asheville Library and principal public square. He also donated land for Montford Park on the southern end of Montford Avenue. In 1905 the village of Montford was annexed to the city, and though a few structures survived from the original village, Montford lost its autonomous identity. Today, Montford is bounded by U.S. Routes 19/23, I-240, and Broadway St. Most of the district's 600 buildings—primarily residences—were constructed between 1890 and 1920. The people who bought lots and built in the Montford area in its building prime were for the most part middle class individuals who carried out the day-to-day activities of the city—businessmen, lawyers, doctors, and a few architects. Several residents found immortality in

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...

's autobiographical ''

Look Homeward, Angel ''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be ...

''. Early city directories indicate a mixed population of working class citizens and highly paid professionals, both whites and blacks. Though predominantly single family homes, land use in Montford has been mixed since the earliest days of development. The old Highland Hospital, located off the northern end of Montford Avenue, was the scene of a deadly fire in 1948. Among the victims was

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, to a wealthy Southern family, she became locally famous for her beauty and high spirits. In 1920, she marri ...

, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The homes in the neighborhood represent an amalgam of architectural styles including

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

, Queen Anne,

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

, Neoclassical, and

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

. Also common are homes built to resemble castles. The neighborhood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1977, much of the Montford neighborhood was designated as a Historic District and listed in the

. In 1981 the Asheville City Council designated the Montford Historic District a local historic district, as well. Today the Montford community is home to several homes and businesses including many

bed and breakfasts A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

Architecture

Montford is popularly called a "

" neighborhood. While some of these architectural features do abound in Montford, the term does not do full justice to the neighborhood's complex overall character, which is that of a late and post-Victorian suburb. The architects and builders of Montford were strongly influenced by a variety of progressive styles and design ideas that were emerging nationally in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The neighborhood mirrors in subtle ways Asheville's cosmopolitan character at the turn of the century. Artistic influences in the town, including details from national architectural trendsetters like

Bruce Price Bruce Price (December 12, 1845 – May 29, 1903) was an American architect and an innovator in the Shingle style architecture, Shingle Style. The stark geometry and compact massing of his cottages in Tuxedo Park, New York, influenced Modern ...

Bernard Maybeck Bernard Ralph Maybeck (February 7, 1862 – October 3, 1957) was an American architect. He worked primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, designing public buildings, including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and also private houses, ...

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

, and others exist in Montford houses, but were relatively unknown in other parts of the state. The Rankin House at 192 Elizabeth Street is Montford's oldest home, a

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style residence built around 1846 with Italianate embellishments. When Montford's development began full force in 1889, the dominant building fashion around the country was what is generally called the Queen Anne style. This was a building mode with many variations, but one generally characterized by irregular, complex massing and rooflines, corner turrets or towers, a mixture of surface textures, and a lavish use of ornamental devices. The arrival of English architect

Richard Sharp Smith Richard Sharp Smith (July 7, 1853 – February 8, 1924) was an English-born American architect, noted for his association with George Washington Vanderbilt II, George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate and Asheville, North Carolina. Smith worked f ...

to Asheville in the late nineteenth century profoundly affected the city's subsequent architectural development. Best known as supervising architect for the

Biltmore House Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The main residence, Biltmore House (or Biltmore Mansion), is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt ...

, Smith opened an office afterwards and a few homes in Montford can be directly traced to him. His favorite motifs were gambrel roofs, hipped gables,

pebbledash Roughcast and pebbledash are durable coarse plaster surfaces used on outside walls. They consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown ...

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

walls, heavy porch brackets and simple

details. The use of shingles, stone, stucco, earth colors and informal composition became an established tradition in Montford. Among the most numerous and most important houses in the district are those executed in the

Shingle style The shingle style is an American architectural style made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the Eastlake style in Queen Anne architecture. In the shingle style, Engli ...

. This prevalence reflects both the prosperity of the town and the presence of architects and clients acquainted with this fashionable trend. A variety of houses in Montford are in the

style, which became popular in the first few decades of the twentieth century. The earliest examples of this style have an informal quality, and are identified chiefly through the use of the gambrel roof and shingle wall coverings. The Montford Hills sub-division of Montford, developed in the mid to late 1920s, incorporates designs found in Montford's original homes.

Highland Hospital

In addition to residential buildings, the historic Highland Hospital was located in Montford. Originally named 'Dr. Carroll's Sanitorium' after Asheville psychiatrist Robert S. Carroll, was located in Montford in 1909 and renamed Highland Hospital in 1912. The campus included Dr. Carroll's home, where jazz singer

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

studied piano with Carroll's wife. In 1939, Carroll gave the hospital to

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

's Neuropsychiatric Department. The hospital is best known for a 1948 fire in which

died along with eight other patients. Duke sold the property in the 1980s, and it was the home office for Genova Diagnostics until the corporate offices moved to Nettlewood in 2013. Highland Hall (as it is now called) is currently a stop on the Asheville Historic Trolley Tours.

Riverside Cemetery

The district also includes the Riverside Cemetery, established in 1885. Thirteen thousand people are buried in the cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place of a wide cross-section of prominent Carolinians: authors

and

William Sydney Porter William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

(better known by his pseudonym

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

); former North Carolina governor and Senator

Zebulon Baird Vance Zebulon Baird Vance (May 13, 1830 – April 14, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th and 43rd governor of North Carolina, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina, and a Confederate officer during the American Civil ...

and his two wives, Harriett Newell Espy Vance and Florence Steele Martin Vance; Farmer and slave owner

Mira Margaret Baird Vance Elmira Margaret Baird Vance (1802 – 1878) was an American socialite, farmer, and slave owner. She was the mother of North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance and U.S. Congressman Robert B. Vance. Biography Vance was born Mira Margaret Baird on De ...

, Senator

Jeter Connelly Pritchard Jeter Connelly Pritchard (July 12, 1857 – April 10, 1921) was a lawyer, newspaperman, United States Senator and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and of the United States Circuit Court ...

; Governor

Locke Craig Locke Craig (August 16, 1860 – June 9, 1924), an American lawyer and Democratic politician, was the 53rd governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina, serving from 1913 until 1917. Early and family life Craig was born near Windsor, North Ca ...

and his wife Annie Burgin Craig;

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

generals Robert B. Vance, James Green Martin and

Thomas Lanier Clingman Thomas Lanier Clingman (July 27, 1812November 3, 1897), known as the "Prince of Politicians," was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and from 1847 to 1858, and U.S. senator from the state of Nort ...

; Lillian Exum Clement, first woman elected to the North Carolina state legislature;

Loula Roberts Platt Loula E. Roberts Platt (October 14, 1863 – December 27, 1934), also known as Lulu Platt and Mrs. Charles M. Platt, was an American suffragist, socialite, hotelier and political candidate. She was a founding member of the Equal Suffrage League of ...

, suffragist and first woman to run for a seat in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

; and George Masa, a photographer known for documenting the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

. The Asheville Cemetery Company established the cemetery not only for that purpose but also to serve as a park. The city took it over in 1952.

Riverside Cemetery Gallery

A few of the many images of the Cemetery on Wikimedia: File:RiversideCemetery.jpg, Riverside Cemetery Sign, 2009 File:Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, NC.jpg, 2015 File:Zebulon Vance Grave.jpg, Zebulon Vance Grave, 2015 File:O. Henry Grave.jpg, O. Henry Grave, 2015 File:Thomas Wolfe Grave.jpg, Thomas Wolfe Grave, 2015

Montford Area Historic District Gallery

A few of the many images of the District on Wikimedia : File:Acupuncture Clinic, Montford Ave., Montord Are.JPG, Acupuncture Clinic, 2014 File:The Black Walnut B & B, Montford Ave., Montford Area.JPG, The Black Walnut B&B, 2014 File:The Lion & The Rose B & B, Montford Ave., Montford Area.JPG, The Lion & The Rose B&B, 2014 File:9 Pearson Drive.jpg, 9 Pearson Drive, 2021 File:10 Watauga Street.jpg, 10 Watauga Street, 2021 File:26 Cumberland Circle.jpg, 26 Cumberland Circle, 2021 File:28 Blake Street.jpg, 28 Blake Street, 2021 File:36 Cumberland Circle.jpg, 36 Cumberland Circle, 2021 File:48 Courtland Avenue.jpg, 48 Courtland Avenue, 2021 File:76 Starnes Avenue.jpg, 76 Starnes Avenue, 2021 File:140 Montford Ave.jpg, 140 Montford Ave., 2021 File:Ambassador Apartments - Asheville, NC.jpg, Ambassador Apartments, 2021 File:Gay Green House.jpg, Gay Green House, 2021 File:Gudger House.jpg, Gudger House, 2021 File:Rumbough House.jpg, Rumbough House, 2021

References

External links

*
Asheville, North Carolina: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary—Montford Area Historic District
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Queen Anne architecture in North Carolina Shingle Style architecture in North Carolina Houses completed in 1848 Culture of Asheville, North Carolina Tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Buncombe County, North Carolina Houses in Buncombe County, North Carolina