Jun 23, 1983
National Register of Historic Places - William Jennings Bryan House
Statement of Significance: The William Jennings Bryan House is located at 107 Evelyn Place in Asheville's exclusive Grove Park section, a residential park developed during the second decade of the twentieth century by pharmaceutical magnate and leading Asheville real estate developer, E. W. Grove. Grove Park, like all of Grove's projects, came to fruition during a period of rapid growth and prosperity in Asheville. Smith and Carrier's design for the Bryan House is a thoroughgoing attempt to produce an authentic early American image. The house stands out as a rare, if not unique, exception to English-born R. S. Smith's usual "Old English" or Tudoresque domestic design vocabulary, as if the Great Commoner had required a thoroughly American home for his retirement years. When the house was designed and constructed for Bryan, late in 1917, he was nearing the end of his public career, having three times run for the presidency of the United States and having served as Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson. Bryan had come to Asheville as early as 1896 during the course of his first presidential campaign, and he visited the city on several subsequent occasions prior to establishing a residence there. He lived in Asheville for approximately two years, leaving sometime in 1919 because of his wife's failing health. He sold the house in 1920, five years prior to the Scopes Trial and his ensuing demise. For the past sixty-two years his house has served as a family residence for various owners.
National Register of Historic Places - William Jennings Bryan House
Statement of Significance: The William Jennings Bryan House is located at 107 Evelyn Place in Asheville's exclusive Grove Park section, a residential park developed during the second decade of the twentieth century by pharmaceutical magnate and leading Asheville real estate developer, E. W. Grove. Grove Park, like all of Grove's projects, came to fruition during a period of rapid growth and prosperity in Asheville. Smith and Carrier's design for the Bryan House is a thoroughgoing attempt to produce an authentic early American image. The house stands out as a rare, if not unique, exception to English-born R. S. Smith's usual "Old English" or Tudoresque domestic design vocabulary, as if the Great Commoner had required a thoroughly American home for his retirement years. When the house was designed and constructed for Bryan, late in 1917, he was nearing the end of his public career, having three times run for the presidency of the United States and having served as Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson. Bryan had come to Asheville as early as 1896 during the course of his first presidential campaign, and he visited the city on several subsequent occasions prior to establishing a residence there. He lived in Asheville for approximately two years, leaving sometime in 1919 because of his wife's failing health. He sold the house in 1920, five years prior to the Scopes Trial and his ensuing demise. For the past sixty-two years his house has served as a family residence for various owners.
Jun 23, 1983
Posted Date
Aug 23, 2023
Historical Record Date
Jun 23, 1983
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
