Smith, Whitford G., House
Why it's listed
Built in 1894 on Haywood Street in Asheville, this two and one-half-story house was constructed by druggist Whiteford G. Smith, who occupied it until 1897. Its Queen Anne design includes an irregular plan, a wraparound porch with turned posts and decorative brackets, tripartite bays, hip roofline with projecting pyramidal bays, and extended eaves with brackets. Original beaded-edge weatherboard survives beneath later asbestos siding. Inside, the rooms retain alternating flat and convex wainscot, fluted door and window framing with corner blocks, heart pine flooring, pocket doors, plaster ceiling medallions, and Queen Anne mantels, with a Craftsman-style mantel added around 1913. The house is regarded as one of the best surviving examples of the style in its section of the city, and it stands among a small group of late nineteenth-century Queen Anne houses in Asheville that keep many original details. Its owners over the decades included a musician and piano technician and a labor leader.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a well-preserved, modest example of the Queen Anne style in Asheville, retaining late nineteenth-century features such as a bracketed porch with turned posts, pedimented entries, beaded weatherboards, and a bracketed cornice. Its interior woodwork, including wainscot, mantels, corner blocks, and five-panel doors with original hardware, is cited as evidence of the style. It is one of a small number of Queen Anne houses of this scale remaining in the city.
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 05000375, listed May 4, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 263 Haywood St., Asheville |
|---|---|
| County | Buncombe County |
| Listed | May 4, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000375 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1894 |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Altered over time, with asbestos siding over original weatherboard, a later carport, and conversion into apartments in the 1980s; current renovation plans call for restoring the original floor plan. |
| Acreage | 0.4 |
| Coordinates | 35.59473, -82.56168 (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 05000375.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18158128
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.