Downtown Asheville
Downtown - Central Asheville
River Arts District – One of Asheville’s booming areas along the French Broad River. What were once vacant warehouses have become studios and apartments for a community of aspiring artists. The newest addition to residences in the area is LEED certified Glen Rock Depot, an all rental mixed use buildings. (Link to website). A number of galleries can be found along Haywood, Clingman and Riverside Drive as well as the legendary 12 Bones Smokehouse that even drew a visit from Presidential Candidate Barack Obama during his visit to Asheville in 2008.
Grove Arcade – Conceived by Dr. Edwin Wiley Grove as a commercial mall with pedestrian thoroughfares and rooftop terraces topped by a skyscraper tower, this sophisticated Tudoresque building was completed in 1929. Unfortunately the plans for the tower were scrapped after the stock market crash, and about 13 years after its completion was occupied by the federal government. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s the Grove Arcade underwent extensive renovation and reopened in 2002 as a public market and today is home to a variety of boutique shops and restaurants. .jpg)
Pack Square – This public square has been one of the central features of downtown Asheville since the town’s initial creation 1797 and has just undergone a complete transformation, complete with dancing water features and an amphitheater style bandstand, which is filled most weekends throughout the summer & fall. The Pack Square was named after George W. Pack who in 1903 donated property adjacent to the square and two-thirds of the funding for a new town courthouse to be built. Most of the buildings that surround the square today are historical monuments themselves. From the neo-classical Commerce Building to the Renaissance Revival style Legal Building, there are a myriad of architectural types represented in the square.
Pritchard Park - is a small triangular park in the middle of the Battery Park area of Downtown Asheville, located at the corners of College Street, Haywood Street & Patton Ave. The landscape of the park really brings out the mountains that surround Asheville by its rock faces and trees and on Friday night, during the warmer months, it comes alive with Asheville’s own “drum circle”.
Montford– an historic neighborhood located just north of downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Taking a short drive through this part of town will quickly demonstrate the varying architectural influences offered in Asheville. Victorian, Neoclassical and Colonial Revival are just a few of the styles that can be found in this unique neighborhood. Richard Sharp, the notable architect who designed and oversaw the construction of the Biltmore House also designed numerous residences in the Montford area. Among the notable sites to be found in Montford is Riverside Cemetary, the resting place of renowned authors Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry. Every summer the Montford Park Players perform free of charge in their long-running outdoor Shakespeare Festival at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in Montford.
Kenilworth- another of the historic neighborhoods that is a part of the City of Asheville. Its location near both downtown Asheville and the Biltmore Village neighborhood makes Kenilworth a popular, yet still affordable place to live. While it is not a large community, it was its own city in the early 1900’s and is home to The Kenilworth Inn Apartments, listed in the Historic Register. The homes in Kenilworth are as diverse as they are in much of the rest of the Asheville area. Cottages, bungalows and many more can be found within this small but beautiful neighborhood. Mission Hospital, the largest medical center in the area is located in Kenilworth.
