{"nrhp_refnum":"78001935","name":"Ravenscroft School","other_names":["Chateau Nollman","See Also:79001676"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Ravenscroft Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Asheville","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.59148920500007,"lon":-82.55400017899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick residence built in the 1840s at 29 Ravenscroft Drive in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, later used as the Ravenscroft School for boys. It is also known as Chateau Nollman.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be one of the finest examples of Greek Revival domestic architecture in western North Carolina, with unusually academic detailing and a massing derived from an A. J. Downing pattern-book design. It also housed the Ravenscroft School, an Episcopal diocesan school and ministerial training school that was important in the development of church-related schools in western North Carolina.","narrative":"Built in the 1840s as a residence, this two- and three-story red brick building on a rise in Asheville became the home of the Ravenscroft School. Its design features a recessed three-story central tower flanked by pedimented pavilions, a massing apparently drawn from an Italianate cottage plate in an A. J. Downing pattern book, but executed in Greek Revival style with Doric details, triglyphs, pegged modillions and acanthus ornament inside. The detailing is notably more academic than is common in western North Carolina. In 1856 the Episcopal diocese opened a boys' school here as a memorial to Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft. It closed during the Civil War, reopened afterward as a theological training school, and returned to a boys' school in the late 1880s before public school competition ended it in the late 1890s. The building then served as a boarding house until 1977. It was listed for its architecture and its role in church-related education.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and in fair condition, altered. A frame addition from about 1920 was being demolished, and the house was described as threatened with demolition while efforts were made to acquire and preserve it through adaptive reuse.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.866079-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/7192/47719214/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/78001935.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001935/5ffcc367e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001935/5ffcc367e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bill Fitzpatrick","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ravenscroft_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill Fitzpatrick</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:Ravenscroft_School.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001676","name":"Downtown Asheville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-asheville-historic-district-79001676/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719214","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenscroft_School_(Asheville,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18157152"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/ravenscroft-school-78001935/"}