{"nrhp_refnum":"03000800","name":"Biltmore Hardware Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"28-32 Hendersonville Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Asheville","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.56773164400005,"lon":-82.54360949299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Commercial Style building at 28-32 Hendersonville Road in Biltmore Village, south of downtown Asheville, North Carolina, built ca. 1923 with a one-story wing added ca. 1927. Joseph C. Cole appears to have been the builder.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a highly intact, representative example of an early 1920s Commercial Style building (Criterion C). It also reflects Biltmore Village's growth into an independent commercial center after the Vanderbilt era (Criterion A). Its early use as a boarding house/hotel for railroad-related workers and its long association with Biltmore Hardware (ca. 1936-2000) add to its importance.","narrative":"This two-story brick building at 28-32 Hendersonville Road in Biltmore Village, south of downtown Asheville, dates to about 1923, with a one-story wing added about 1927 and later joined to it. Joseph C. Cole appears to have built it after buying the lots in 1921, when the village had left Biltmore Estate ownership and was becoming a commercial center. Upstairs rooms housed boarders, many tied to the railroad, and the building operated as the Biltmore Inn until about 1930. Biltmore Hardware occupied it from about 1936 until 2000. The building is a freestanding example of the Commercial Style, with plain brick walls, a stepped parapet, tile pent roofs over the storefronts, and an arched central doorway with a concrete keystone. The original storefronts, copper-framed display windows, pressed tin ceiling and second-floor plan remain largely intact. It was listed for its architecture and for its role in the village's 1920s commercial development.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1923 - 1953","architect_builder":"unknown (Joseph C. Cole appears to have been the builder)","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current functions listed as specialty store, restaurant and business; Biltmore Hardware closed in 2000.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:53.522522-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7173/47717304/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/03000800.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000800/645d6d5841-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000800/645d6d5841-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biltmore_Hardware_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biltmore_Hardware_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717304","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltmore_Hardware_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17985904"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/biltmore-hardware-building-03000800/"}