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David cottages, begins with references and information gleaned from those architectural surveys-just ask the staff of the Western branch of the State Historic Preservation Office how often I request copies of information from those surveys.Īdding to the mystery of the J. But, I must acknowledge that most of my research, especially in the case of the Dr. Not only do I have access to an immense quantity of resources via the internet that were not available in the 1970’s, but I also have the luxury of only focusing on a select number of properties. But I don’t fault those involved in the survey, as having myself been involved in architectural surveys, I understand the limitations of time and quantity of work that prohibits them from the luxury of doing the extensive research that I am able to perform. David Cottages, I discovered that some of the long-held information about the David cottages, originating from the original 1970’s survey is incorrect. Let me unravel this complicated mystery for you!īefore we get started, let me praise the invaluable work done by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, and their associates who first laid the groundwork for historic preservation in Western North Carolina, resulting in the monumental architectural survey done in the late 1970’s, which resulted in the publication of Cabins & Castles.
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To add to the mystery riddle-let me say that all five houses that were built on the five “David lots” were designed by Richard Sharp Smith. Smith- only three of those were built on the five “David lots” at the corner of Chestnut and N. And although the four that David built were designed by R. David (one was an existing house that he purchased). David did have five rental cottages built on East Chestnut Street, but only four were built by Dr. To pique YOUR interest let me summarize the result of my investigation. I was able to match one set of drawings to one of the five alleged David cottages, but one set showed a house that did not match any of the five, although labeled as being on Chestnut Street! Another architectural mystery-I was hooked! So where was this “other” J. David cottages” in the Richard Sharp Smith Architectural Drawings Collection (owned by Asheville Art Museum). Then upon further investigation I discovered drawings for two different “Dr. Chestnut) and that they were all designed by Richard Sharp Smith.
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David built five rental cottages adjacent to each other (#’s 138, 144, 150, 156, & 160 E. I was further informed by Cabins & Castles that in fact, Dr. Chestnut Street was designed by British-born architect, Richard Sharp Smith for “Dr. But alas, after consulting my copy of Cabins & Castles (a 1981 publication of our local/county architectural surveys), I discovered that the house at 138 E. My first thought was that it looked like it may have been designed by architect and house plan book publisher Robert W. Liberty and East Chestnut Streets (138 E. Liberty Street in North Asheville, via google “street view”, recently, I came across the beautiful cottage at the northeast corner of N.