Smith-Williams-Durham Boarding House
Why it's listed
Two-story frame house on a city lot in Hendersonville, North Carolina, built in 1909 as a one-story cottage for T. M. Smith and enlarged in 1918 into a boarding house. The 1918 work raised the cottage to two stories, added a two-story wing on the east side, and expanded the building to thirteen bedrooms and nine baths. Its Classical Revival entrance and porch sit within a rambling plan shaped by the conversion to lodging. Lillie and Jonathan Williams ran it as a year-round boarding house after 1918, and after a 1933 public auction Kate Durham operated it until 1980. It is significant as one of many Hendersonville homes turned into boarding houses during the town's early twentieth-century growth as a railroad-era resort, when visitors arrived in numbers. It stands as a fine example of that property type. Interior features include late Victorian mantels in the west rooms, which date to the original house, and a Craftsman brick fireplace in the former main parlor.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is a fine example of the many Hendersonville homes converted into boarding houses in the early 20th century, during the town's period as a railroad-era tourist and resort destination. It is representative of the Inns, Boarding Houses, and Hotels property type, and its 1918 remodeling created the building's boarding-house form.
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 89000032, listed February 24, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 247 5th Ave. West, Hendersonville |
|---|---|
| County | Henderson County |
| Listed | February 24, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89000032 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1918-1929 |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Entertainment/Recreation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to commercial use and now serves as office space for a travel agency, a real estate company, and several other small businesses. |
| Acreage | 0.4 |
| Coordinates | 35.31774, -82.46250 (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 89000032.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q24041332
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.