James Buttrick and the Building Industry in 19th-century Asheville

James Buttrick and the Building Industry in 19th-century Asheville

By Dale Wayne Slusser “What are our Real Estate owners thinking of in not building houses?”[3], implored an anonymous subscriber to the Asheville News in November of 1869.  In his (or her?) long appeal, the anonymous subscriber gave a comprehensive state of building,...
Arthur J. Wills: Another British Architect In Asheville- Part 2

Arthur J. Wills: Another British Architect In Asheville- Part 2

By: Dale Wayne Slusser Shortly after British born architect Arthur John Wills left Asheville in early 1893 and returned home to St. John’s Newfoundland, after three years of living and working in Asheville, he sent a letter to the Asheville Citizen-Times with the...
Arthur J. Wills: Another British Architect In Asheville-Part 1

Arthur J. Wills: Another British Architect In Asheville-Part 1

by Dale Wayne Slusser Asheville, for a small city in the mountains of Appalachian North Carolina, has since the arrival of the railroad in 1880, attracted many of the most creative artists and architects from both across the United States and abroad.  And for some...
Cabins In the Fields

Cabins In the Fields

by Dale Wayne Slusser “Two hundred feet below under the shade of a pine tree a log cabin snuggles into a laurel thicket,” writes Muriel Sheppard in her 1935 book, Cabins In the Laurel, her literary portrait of life in the coves, hollars, hills, and mountains of...
Allen L. Melton, Architect – Part 3

Allen L. Melton, Architect – Part 3

by Dale Wayne Slusser Architect “A. L. Melton”, a little-known architect from Morganton, NC, moved to Asheville in 1886 to participate in the building boom which followed the 1880 arrival of the railroad. For the ensuing three decades, Melton was responsible for the...