Rice-Cornell-Brown House
Why it's listed
Set on bottomland in the Beaverdam Valley of northern Buncombe County, this farmhouse began about 1850 as a one-room, half-dovetailed hand-hewn log cabin built by or for James Overly Rice, who bought the surrounding 210 acres at auction that year. Later owners reshaped it in stages. A frame addition and vestibule went up in 1890, another room followed in 1927 using salvaged materials from a demolished Biltmore Avenue house, and a board-and-batten addition was made in 1953. The result is a side-gabled log and frame house that keeps features from each period, including an original mantel, whitewashed loft and exposed log walls. The property now covers about 26.75 acres, the remnant of the Rice farm, and includes a tool shed, horse barn and relocated log buildings. It is considered one of the few intact nineteenth-century farmhouses left inside Asheville's city limits and shows a frontier homestead growing into a working farm.
Significance in brief: The house shows how a mid-nineteenth-century log cabin grew into a late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century farmhouse as the family prospered, and it keeps integrity from each building phase. It is described as one of the few intact mid-nineteenth to early twentieth-century farmhouses left within the Asheville city limits. It is also tied to the Rice family, early settlers of the Beaverdam and Swannanoa valleys.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 98001546, listed December 24, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 29 Rice Branch Rd., Asheville |
|---|---|
| County | Buncombe County |
| Listed | December 24, 1998 |
| Reference number | 98001546 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Other: log/frame house |
| Areas of significance | Social History, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house is in use as a single dwelling and for family gatherings. The exterior is described as well maintained, and a moved log cabin on the property is rented out. |
| Acreage | 26.8 |
| Coordinates | 35.64184, -82.52255 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 98001546.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q137562843
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.