Downtown Asheville Historic District (Boundary Increase II)

This small residential enclave in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, sits along Ravenscroft Drive, Church Street and Hilliard Street beside the existing downtown historic district. It holds 13 contributing and 4 non-contributing buildings, mostly houses built between the late 1890s and 1927. Three Queen Anne houses with towers and wrap-around porches are the oldest. Craftsman bungalows, American Foursquare houses and a brick duplex followed after the surrounding land was platted as the Ravenscroft subdivision in 1910 from Episcopal church property. Its plat was prepared by Chauncey Beadle. Elsewhere downtown, houses were largely replaced by commercial development, leaving this group as the most intact residential cluster in the central business district. The area shows that housing close to the city center, like the suburbs, was developed and speculated on during Asheville's growth. Many buildings now serve as offices or rentals while retaining their architectural character.