Landmarks of Asheville
Including some of the historic old homes,
famous hotels and oilier places. Most of
them have interesting stories in connection
with the
HANDSOME old homes with
interesting histories, famous
hotels and parks with ancient
backgrounds are characteristic of
Asheville, hut few of the citizens of
North Carolina know the interesting
stories connected with these land¬
marks, which usually attract interest
from tourists all over the country.
In 1704 John Burton laid out the
21-acre tract of land that was to be¬
come the county seat of Buncombe
and three years later the new town
was named Asheville in honor of
Samuel Ashe, Governor of North
Carolina.
The late George W. Vanderbilt
came to Asheville in 1880 and the
creation of Biltmore estate and the
building of Biltmore House aroused
excited interest throughout the United
States. Sunday newspapers carried
feature articles about it for years.
From the time of its completion, it
has been one of the show places of
America. Thousands of tourists from
every part of tho land welcome the
opportunity of not only visiting the
chateau, but of familiarizing them¬
selves with its stored treasures.
A 52-room House
The old Connaly home, a fifty-room
structure, once deserted and rambling,
is now transformed into a thing of
artistic beauty. The architects re¬
moved thirty-eight of the fifty original
rooms and have left twelve standing.
The new home of Mr. and Mrs.
Curran is to be called “Viewmont.”
Viowmont is a stately white house
with green roof and shutters. It
commands a splendid view of the
French Broad River and Pisgah
Mountain. A miniature, near-wilder¬
ness paradise has been created and
called "Fcrnihursl.” The house was
erected soon after the close of the
Civil War, and is one of the few of its
kind still standing. The bricks of the
walls are 1.'. inches thick and hand¬
made from clay on the premises. An
old building, now a guest house, is
believed to have been erected in 1850.
The park contains a cross section of
what grows in North Carolina. A
green-house has been erected, and pic¬
nic grounds, tennis courts, etc., arc
r building and planning.
now being planned. It is an alto¬
gether 'harming place.
“Witchwood”
"Witchwood” built by Charles
Woosloy, is the home of Mrs. J. II.
Lang. It was built on land where two
men were supposedly hanged for
stealing, a charge of which they were
completely innocent, as it was" after¬
wards proved. Its trees and arbors
have grown more beautiful with the
years. The arbors contain trees from
Japan, China, France, England and
Switzerland. Above the door, across
the house, there is an old Engli.-h
script "May To Yc Brynge Each
Glad New Year, Good Friends, Good
Luck, not least Good Cheerc."
Mr. Woosloy adopted a little girl
and made a playhouse on the grounds
of the estate for her. A shady path
with trees swaying overhead leads to
it. It is furnished as completely and
as charmingly ns the big one. Witch¬
wood has panelling of pine, and the
woodwork is covered with carved
birds of all descriptions. Mr. Woos¬
loy brought one piece of panelling
here from Turkey. It is the window
of a Turkish harem and is very in¬
teresting. When Mr. Wooslev died,
his family went back North. ‘Witch-
wood was sold and has been completely
refurnished with old English furni¬
ture, truly in keeping with its script
and background.
The Swannanoa
Tho Swannanoa Hotel, now the
Milner, was ono of tho finest hotels
in Asheville. It was purchased first
by Mr. Lough ram, July 1, 1905. This
hotel closed May 1, Kill, and thou
merged with the Berkley to form the
Swannanoa-Berkloy. The Swannanoa
was second only to the Eagle. There
was once an advertisement that rend
"Come to the Swannanoa and bathe
in a real bath-tub.” It is -aid that
the Swannanoa was tho first hotel in
Asheville to install tubs. The Swan-
nanoa and Eagle wore rivals, and
when the Biltmore Railroad was built
the haekmon of each hotel would rush
to the station to he first to pick up
the passengers. This hotel boasts of
many famous visitors. Tho old folks
of the city say it was the head¬
quarters of Zcb Vance, Bill Nyo and
James Whitcombc Riley when they
were in Asheville. William McKinley
and his first wife spent part of their
honeymoon here in this hotel. The
ballroom, now closed for over 18
years, was 3,-100 square feet, entirely
free from columns. It was tho scene
of many ga.v parties.
Kenilworth Inn
Kenilworth Inn was erected in 1S91
by Senator Joseph M. Gassam, of
Philadelphia, and a company of men.
It consisted of two hundred and fifty
rooms and entered to tourists from
all parts of the world. It was ono of
the finest buildings in tin- South. This
building was destroyed by fire on
April 13. 1910. A new building was
started by J. M. Chilis in 1913. The
new building was turned over to the
federal government. From tin- govern¬
ment it was acquired by I»r. W. R.
Griffin and Dr. Mark A. Griffin, in
1930 and converted into a sanatorium
for mental and nervous diseases. It is
known as Appalachian Hall.
The spacious, dignified building we
know as the Battery Park Hotel, was
at first only a hill; Stoney Hill it was
called. It was renamed Battery
Porter because there was a battery
there in the Civil War, under the
command of a man named Porter.
Here, where the garrison guarded
Asheville against invasion, occurred
the Battle of Asheville, April 5. 1805.
The first hotel erected on this spot
was opened on July 12. 1SS0, by Col.
Frank Coxe. The tale is that Coxe
built tile hotel out of spite because
the Swannanoa did not reserve the
rooms they usually ha. I for him. The
hotel has accommodated such visitors
William McKinley, William
Henry Harrison, Thcodoro Roosevelt
and Franklin I). Roosevelt. It was
..no of the three leading hotel- in the
South and all the city entertaining
was done there. The present building
was erected by Mr. E. W. Grove and
opened September 1924. The hotel
was turned over to Mrs. Seeley, a- a
(Continued on page twenly-Iwo)
