Smith-McDowell House
Encyclopedia
The Smith-McDowell House is located in Asheville, North Carolina
. It is the city's first mansion and oldest surviving house, and the oldest brick structure in Buncombe County.
The house was constructed in 1840 for James McConnell Smith. His daughter Sarah Smith-McDowell bought the house after her parents died. It is a blend of architectural styles dating from its original 1840 construction and additions completed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The floor plan is typical of Adam style
, better known as Federal style
in America.
It is a double-pile plan, Flemish bond
, five-bay mansion that features a double-tier porch semi-engaged beneath an extension of its gable roof. Each three-bay end wall has a pair of interior chimneys. The brick walls are 12 to 20 inches thick. The original Federal character that dominated the house's exterior remains in the large fanlight
s above the front doors and in the delicacy of the front porch that is supported by twelve slender fluted columns (six on each level). The house has corbel
led cornice
s that feature dentil
s. The exterior of the building at one time displayed penciling, and remnants remain in several spots. Although much of the dwelling's original Greek Revival interior woodwork was replaced during a Neoclassical
style remodeling in 1913, the second floor's mantles, window frames, and door frames are original, dating from the 1840s. A one-story semicircular sunroom was added to the southern end wall in the late 1890s.
Today the house is on the grounds of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
. It serves as a timeline museum showing how families lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. It is the city's first mansion and oldest surviving house, and the oldest brick structure in Buncombe County.
The house was constructed in 1840 for James McConnell Smith. His daughter Sarah Smith-McDowell bought the house after her parents died. It is a blend of architectural styles dating from its original 1840 construction and additions completed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The floor plan is typical of Adam style
Adam style
The Adam style is an 18th century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practiced by the three Adam brothers from Scotland; of whom Robert Adam and James Adam were the most widely known.The Adam brothers were the first to advocate an integrated style for architecture and...
, better known as Federal style
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
in America.
It is a double-pile plan, Flemish bond
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
, five-bay mansion that features a double-tier porch semi-engaged beneath an extension of its gable roof. Each three-bay end wall has a pair of interior chimneys. The brick walls are 12 to 20 inches thick. The original Federal character that dominated the house's exterior remains in the large fanlight
Fanlight
A fanlight is a window, semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan, It is placed over another window or a doorway. and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner a sunburst...
s above the front doors and in the delicacy of the front porch that is supported by twelve slender fluted columns (six on each level). The house has corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s that feature dentil
Dentil
In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...
s. The exterior of the building at one time displayed penciling, and remnants remain in several spots. Although much of the dwelling's original Greek Revival interior woodwork was replaced during a Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style remodeling in 1913, the second floor's mantles, window frames, and door frames are original, dating from the 1840s. A one-story semicircular sunroom was added to the southern end wall in the late 1890s.
Today the house is on the grounds of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is a public two-year community college established in 1959 in Asheville, North Carolina. The college is one of the oldest in the North Carolina Community College System and serves primarily Buncombe and Madison counties. As of the 2004-2005 school...
. It serves as a timeline museum showing how families lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.