(Masonic Temple)
229 5th Avenue West
The Clarke-Hobbs-Davidson House, acquired by the Masons in 1958 (at which time a rear brick wing was added, doubling the size of the building), is one of the most imposing historic residences remaining near downtown Hendersonville. The two-and-a-half brick transitional Queen Anne-Colonial Revival style house, built about 1907, stands in nearly unaltered condition, and the brick addition made to the rear of the house soon after 1958 affects the integrity only of the rear elevation of the house. The two-story brick addition, of utilitarian design with metal casement windows and a flat roof, fortunately is relatively inconspicuous from the street, and does not therefore prevent the Clarke-Hobbs-Davidson House from retaining sufficient integrity to be listed in the Register.
The house is located on a narrow city lot on the north side of West Fifth Avenue. A high retaining wall, of the same rough-quarried stone used in the house foundation and porch posts, encloses the front yard along the front and sides, with wide steps ascending to the porch in the center of the front yard. The symmetrical (south) facade features a one-story, full-width, hipped roof porch supported by rough stone foundation posts on which rest paired and, at the corners, tripled Doric colonnettes with boxed eaves. The double leaf front door has paneled lower halves and glazed upper nalves, set in a molded surround, with a stone lintel. Large one-over-one sash windows with stone sills and lintels illuminate the entire house. A bay window projects from the center bay of the second story facade, resting on the porch roof, and a large pedimented dormer window projects from the roof above it, giving a pronounced central axis to the main facade. Identical dormers project from the east and west sides of the roof. The walls are laid in red pressed brick in running bond. The tall deck-on-hip roof is covered with asphalt shingles, and the deck probably originally had a railing that is now gone. The deck and the boxed eaves of the dormers have simply molded brackets. Two interior chimneys with corbeled caps project from the tall hipped roof. The only major alteration on the exterior of the Clarke-Hobbs-Davidson House is that the roof eaves and the window surrounds have been covered with aluminum siding. On the east side, in the center second floor bay, is an unexpected touch of Queen Anne whimsy: an oriel window with a wide brick stepped base and a row of three bowed sash windows.
The interior of the Clarke-Hobbs-Davidson House, featuring a center hall plan, two rooms deep, exhibits extensive ornate natural oak woodwork and retains a high degree or integrity. All of the door and window surrounds have five-part robustly molded frames. All of the original doors feature narrow horizontal panels. The entrance hall is completely wainscotted, and just beyond a pair of Doric colonnettes on paneled bases, a transverse stair hall intersects on the west side with a closed string dog leg stair with a landing, with heavy newels, turned balusters, and a molded handrail. At the rear of the center hall is an inglenook with a brick fireplace, original mantel, and flanking benches. The two most elaborately finished rooms on the first floor are the parlor, the front right room, and the dining room behind it. Both rooms have paneled wainscotting. The parlor has the most elaborate mantel in the house, with tall Ionic colonnettes supporting an high shelf and mirrored overmantel. Arched niches flanking the fireplace hold built-in cabinetry and a doorway to the dining room. The dining room features a deeply coffered ceiling and built-in cabinetry. Woodwork on the second and third floors is a slightly reduced version of the first floor finish. The Masons have created a new bathroom on the second floor and added a few closets, but otherwise the original structure is unaffected by its adaptive reuse as a Masonic Temple.
According to the Henderson County Deed Book 53, p. 344, Charles S. Clarke and wife Louise bought the 105’ by 148.5' Broad Street (later 5th Avenue) lot for $1,050.00 from J. A. Maddrey on January 23, 1906. In March, 1907, Charles Clarke sold the property to his wife Louise for $5,000.00 (Henderson County Deed Book 58, p. 94). Possibly there was some sort of domestic upheaval at this point, since the deed book records separate notarized forms for the Clarkes, his in Pennsylvania, hers in North Carolina. The house probably was built by the Clarkes since, despite the March 1907 sale, both the Clarkes are listed on the deed transferring ownership to Alfred J. Hobbs of Connecticut on May 6, 1907 for $11,000.00, a substantial increase in value (Henderson County Deed Book 57, p. 114). Later that year, the house once again was sold, this time to Charles A. Hobbs and wife Harriet G. of North Carolina (Henderson County Deed Book 57, p. 278). The price did not change. Four years later, the Hobbs sold the house, "being the lot on which now stands the brick house known as the Charles A. Hobbs residence, together with all the furniture and fixtures now in said house," to Mrs. Ada S. Davidson for $8,000.00 (Henderson County Deed Book 71, p. 95, June 1, 1911). Mrs. Davidson (later Ada S. Rose) left the property to her brother Edgar Sutton and wife Eleanor (Henderson County Record of Wills 1928-1935, vol. 7, pp. 229-231). On November 4, 1932, the Suttons sold the house, "being same lot conveyed by Charles A. Hobbs and Harriet to Ada S. Davidson," to Roy and Catherine Noble for "$10.00 and other valuable considerations" (Henderson County Deed Book 203, p. 147). In 1937, the Nobles still resided in the 5th Avenue house (Hendersonville City Directory 1937/38). On April 29, 1958, R. J. Swackjamer bought the house for $22,500.00 and gave it to the Masons, Kedron Loge #387 (Henderson County Deed Book 367, p. 305).
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form)
755 North Main Street
Claddagh Inn is a large, rambling frame boarding house at 755 N. Main Street, on the west side of the street, separated by a vacant lot from the Waverly, also being nominated to the Register at this time. The house sits on a narrow city lot two blocks north of the central business district. The house was built before 1906, and had a complete transformation between 1912 and 1922 when it was enlarged from a two-story building to the present three-story building with twenty guest rooms. The house retains architectural integrity from the 1920s period. Each stage or its architectural evolution represents the growth of Hendersonville as a tourist resort during the early twentieth century.
The original building, shown on the 1912 Sanborn Map as a two-story frame house, serves as the main core of the present building. This is a rectangular block, three bays wide and approximately six bays deep, of plain late Victorian design with weatherboarded walls, a brick foundation and one-over-one sash windows. The symmetrical east facade has a central double leaf front door with upper lights, flanked by bay windows with wide Queen Anne style sash. The upper sash contains lozenge-patterned muntins, the lower sash a single pane. The second story or the facade has identical windows, and the center bay above the entrance is a recessed balcony. The effect is that the two flanking windows appear to be bay windows. A single door opens to this balcony. The corners of the upper facade are beveled, with narrow sash windows with upper lozenge-patterned sash, like the bay windows of the lower facade. The sides of the main block have narrower versions of the front windows, both single and in pairs.
Between the second and third story is a deep pent roof with boxed eaves, covered with asphalt shingles. This may be the remnant of the original roof covering the two-story building, or may have been added when the house was raised to three stories. The third story, added between 1912 and 1922, is weatherboarded, with a low hipped roof with overhanging eaves and exposed eave brackets. It is punctuated by pairs of one-over-one sash windows, the upper sash with Craftsman-style muntins.
A one-story hipped porch extends across the main facade and down the south side elevation to the rear one-story wing, probably the original kitchen. The porch apparently dates from the enlargement, and has paired square posts set on high brick bases across the facade, and square full-height posts down the south side. The entire porch has a plain wooden railing. The southeast corner of the porch extends out in a polygonal gazebo, accented with a shallow roof pediment. At the northwest rear corner, a two-story wing extends from the main block and contains the dining room on the first floor and guest rooms upstairs. This wing dates from the enlargement.
On the interior, the basic floor plan and some of the trim of the original building survive. The front entrance opens into a large entrance hall, with a splendid stair rising in the corner, with a landing to the second floor. The stair is of simple Colonial Revival character, and may be original. The entrance hall narrows to a hallway beyond the stairs. The registration counter is straight down the hall, and the dining room is off the hall on the north side. There are a total of thirty rooms, including twenty guest rooms distributed mostly on the upper two floors. The boarding house is laid out on a double-loaded center hall plan on all three floors.
To the right of the entrance hall is a parlor, the only room which apparently is unaltered from the original pre-1906 construction date. The late Victorian style mantel has simple pilasters supporting a molded shelf, and symmetrically molded door and window surrounds. While some symmetrically molded surrounds survive elsewhere on the first and second floors of the main core, most of the woodwork is plainer and appears to date from the 1910s and 1920s.
Interior walls are plaster, most of which has been wallpapered. Floors are pine, and wide baseboards survive throughout. Interior doors are both five-panel, principally vertically configured, and six-panel, horizontally-configured compositions. The dining room is about 30 by 30 feet square with two three-part window sets in the north wall. In each set the central window is only an upper half, leaving wall space below to receive a sideboard. The ceiling is crossed by boxed beams with crown moldings. A plain boxed column carries the beams in the center of the room. The upstairs hallways are broad, and furnished as sitting areas. Each guest room is provided with a louvered ventilating door. Some rooms have late Victorian style mantels, some with mirrored overmantels.
Along with the Waverly next door, Chewning House is one of the few large boarding houses in downtown Hendersonville which still serve their purpose. Both reflect the boom in tourism development which began in the late 19th century and continued through the 1920s. Though of similar proportions, the Waverly still reflects the aesthetics of the Victorian period, while Chewning House is more a part of the domestic styles of the 1920s, representing a return to simpler interior detailing and classic proportions. Sanborn maps indicate that the structure was enlarged from a two-story building between 1912 and 1922.
W. A. Smith sold the 2/3 acre lot and house to Elsie Sindolf on October 10, 1906, for $3,175.00. At this time, it was known as the Smith-Green House (Henderson County Deed Book 56, p. 154). 0n August 3, 1914, she sold the property to E. W. Vacher for $8,500.00. Mrs. Sindolf had changed the name to the Charleston Boarding House, and Mr. Vacher retained that name (Henderson County Deed Book 85, p.36). L. R. Chewning and wife Mattie bought the Charleston Boarding House from Vacher on May 18, 1916, for $8,500.00 (Henderson County Deed Book 92, p.153). The Chewnings probably enlarged the house sometime before 1922, when the Sanborn map shows a larger building. They also renamed it Chewning House, as the 1926/27 and 1937/38 Hendersonville City Directories both refer to it by this name. In 1934, Mattie F. Chewning, widow, deeded Chewning House to Home Owner's Loan Corporation of Washington D. C. (Henderson County Deed Book 116, p.229). This corporation sold the property to E. J. Harrell and wife Eve on May 1, 1938 for $11,000.00 (Henderson County Deed Book 219, p.458). Sometime after 1934, the lot shrank to less than one half acre. Later owners included T. M. Bonner and M. U. McCurry, who also owned the Waverly.
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form 12.28.88)
219 7th Avenue West
The Cedars is a large, three-and-a-half story brick veneer hotel, built in a Neo-Classical Revival style. It is nestled among large ancient cedars on a hilltop urban lot. These deontological patriarchs lend their name to the structure. There is a rough stone retaining wall across the front of the yard. The same stone is used in the hotel's foundation. Its most striking feature is a monumental tetrastyle Ionic portico. Atop the full height portico is a deck and rail. Extending like wings from the portico is a single-tiered wraparound porch with a simple railing. The structure has a hipped roof with shed dormers. Brick corbelling adorns the exterior walls between the second and third floors. Two prominent interior chimneys emerge from the roof to the main block.
Aside from the impressive portico, the hotel is relatively plain. The front doorway with its transom and sidelights exhibits the influence of the Greek Revival in the later Classical Revival building styles. The original 12/1 and 6/1 sash windows have molded surrounds. The latter appear on the upper side elevations. There are diamond panes in the upper window sashes in the kitchen and between the parlor and dining room. These too are original. Several small additions have been built to the west and north sides of the structure. The roof is of asbestos shingles.
The Cedars' exterior is unchanged with the exception of a replacement metal railing which tops the portico, and a front fire escape which begins at the front dormer, leading down to the deck atop the portico, and extends to the side, plus a rear fire escape. The portico roof railing echoes the simple stick railing on the wraparound porch.
The Cedars is entered directly through a large parlor. To the left, separated by pocket doors, is a smaller parlor. Directly beyond the larger parlor is a columned doorway leading to a central stairhall. The original, simply detailed, single-run stairway ascends from front to rear in the hall. To the left of this hall behind the stairs is another sitting room, beyond which, in a one-story wing, is the dining room. The kitchen facilities are to the rear of the building on the ground floor. The mantels on the first floor are original and Neo-Classical Revival in design.
There are nine guest rooms on both the second and third floors, which have identical floor plans. The doors, crowned by operable transoms, open onto a central hallway. Some of the rooms have private baths; other share a common bath. The plaster walls on the second floor have been covered with vertical wooden paneling. On the third floor, the plaster walls are intact. There are fewer rooms on the fourth floor.
The Cedars is the largest and most imposing of the historic tourist accommodations in Hendersonville. This 3½ story Neo-Classical Revival brick hotel is a premier example of the Inns, Boarding Houses, and Hotels property type. In 1913, Mrs. Bailey purchased the property on Seventh Avenue from the estate of Nelson Bowen. The approximately one acre cost her $2,200.00, an indication of elevated property values in Hendersonville due to the resort boom. The hotel was built in 1914 for Jeannie Bailey, despite opposition from her husband, J. W. Bailey, then the head of Southern Railway. She argued there was a definite need for another hotel in the town. An advertisement for the hotel reads: "No consumptives, open all the year; Hot Water Heat/Running Hot and Cold Water in every Room, Apply to Mrs. J. W. Bailey, Prop. & Owner." The Cedars was left to Mrs. Bailey's daughter, Mrs. Margaret Bailey Bland, at her death. It operated as a hotel until 1976, when it was sold by Mrs. Bland to Mr. Clifton Shipman. It is now used as a reception house, offering elegant spaces for parties and receptions. (828-693-6762)
(Excerpts from the National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form 12.28.88)
Postcard below courtesy of Tommy Shipman.
William Williams House
House. Contributing, ca. 1920.
One-story bungalow with a small addition at the northwest corner. Hip roof with exposed roof rafters, asbestos siding, and brick veneer on addition. Engaged front porch has replacement iron posts on brick piers and iron balustrade. Windows are eight-over-one and door is multi-light. Low stone retaining wall at sidewalk. House was originally lots 10, 11, 12 of S. Maxwell's 5th Ave. Subdivision (1919). Lot 10 was originally bought by A. Y. Arledge from Maxwell (1919, Book 102, 44); lots 11 and 12 were bought by Dr. W. A. McKenzie from Maxwell (1919, Book 108, 51). William Williams, a salesman, lived here from 1937 to 1938. William P. Chaney and wife Fannie, a dressmaker, lived here from 1939 to at least 1951.
(Sanborn maps, city directories, plats, deeds)
Storage building. Non-contributing, ca. 1955.
One-story storage building with a front gable roof and vertical plank walls, on same site as the original outbuilding.
King G. Morris House
Contributing, ca. 1925.
One-story bungalow with a side gable roof and knee braces. German siding. Pronounced Craftsman-influenced front attached porch with battered posts on stuccoes piers. Exterior end stuccoed chimney. Windows are one-over-one and door is multi-light with sidelights. House is set way back on lot. House was originally lot 9 of the S. Maxwell subdivision. A. Y. Arledge bought the lot from Maxwell (1919, Book 102, 44). King G. and Daisy L. Morris lived here from 1937 to 1938. Morris worked for Brownlow Jackson & Son. Byers D. Johnson lived here from 1939 to 1944. Raymond and Margie Capps lived here from 1945 to 1946. Capps was a salesman at Efird's Department Store. Jason P. and Jeanetta McGee lived here from 1948 to 1951.
(Sanborn maps, city directories, plats, deeds)