My New Neighborhood

Although I'm not actually in my house yet, still staying with a friend down the street, I'm already diving in to life in Asheville.  Besides my initial steps joining Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, I'm been to my first Spanish Conversation group, my first Quilt Guild meeting, and my first Swing Dance since arriving here in July.  I'm sure I'll have lots to say about all those topics as the weeks and months go on, but first, I want to start with my new neighborhood.

The Norwood Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The following is adapted from the website Living Places by The Gombach Group.  The original online article can be found at:  http://www.livingplaces.com/NC/Buncombe_County/Asheville_City/Norwood_Park_Historic_District.html

The Norwood Park Historic District, located north of downtown, forms an intact representation of Asheville's boom time in the first three decades of the twentieth century, along with some additional building which took place in the late 1930s through the 1950s. The Norwood Park Historic District has retained a high degree of historic architectural integrity. 

Topography varies widely. Some lots, such as those along parts of Woodward and Woodley Avenues are nearly level, unlike the steep hillsides and siting of houses high above the street on Murdock Street. Most lots have gently sloping topography, dropping slightly to the rear, often allowing for a full above-ground basement level. Lots are typically small, with houses lining both sides of the streets built close together in a steady rhythm of setback.

The District consists of 154 contributing buildings and outbuildings that are at least fifty years old, and retain a high degree of architectural integrity. The twenty-six acre residential district contains an intact collection of Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Minimal Traditional, Tudor Revival, and Dutch Colonial Revival style buildings dating from the late 1910s and 1920s.

While earlier neighborhoods such as Montford and Chestnut Hills were laid out in a grid pattern, later neighborhoods such as Albemarle Park, and later Grove Park, designed by Biltmore Estate landscape architect Chauncey Beadle, utilized the "suburb beautiful" concept. This movement consisted of a design philosophy which included a curvilinear system of street design that paid close attention to the natural topography and incorporated within its boundaries amenities such as large lots, sidewalks, tree-lined streets, open spaces, and elaborate high-style houses following the latest architectural trends of the day. 

The development of Norwood Park was very much in keeping with the 1910s to 1920s trend in Asheville, and the nation, to develop more suburban, park-like neighborhoods located farther from downtown. In contrast to the neighborhoods mentioned above, however, Norwood Park was designed with smaller lots, and a higher density of buildings and while incorporating many of the concepts of the "suburb beautiful" movement in its curvilinear street patterns, uniform setbacks, close attention to the natural topography, sidewalks, and tree-lined streets, the District was smaller in land area and was designed to appeal to the middle class homeowner.

Bungalows typically found in Norwood Park were generally less elaborate, typically in the Craftsman style, and no land was left undeveloped for a public park.

Norwood Park filled an important need in Asheville for more middle class housing, meeting a continuing desire of the population of Asheville to move farther from the center of town, made possible by the street car lines and the ease of access by automobile. Norwood Park, in its heyday of development in the 1910s to 1920s, provided housing for the middle class and formed the northern edge of residential communities available within the city limits of Asheville.

A May 1915 newspaper article noted that "choice lots" were for sale in Norwood Park, although they were generally smaller than those found in the adjoining Grove Park neighborhood. Over $14,000 had been invested by the developers in improving the Norwood Park property, however, including the grading of streets, concrete sidewalks, city water, electric lights, telephones, and link-up to the city sewage system. The article also pointed out the proximity to the existing street car system, making the neighborhood "one of the most desirable residential sections in or near Asheville." The lots were all to be sold with a specified building line to give the property a "uniform park-like appearance and not to obstruct the view from any lot."
Residents of Norwood Park historically were a mix of socio-economic levels. 

In addition to residents who worked for Asheville businesses, there were many business owners and other professionals who lived in the neighborhood, including physicians, dentists, accountants, lawyers, traveling salesmen, retired army personnel, insurance agents, postal workers, and U.S. and State Forest Service workers.

The Craftsman style is the type most commonly found in Norwood Park Historic District. Craftsman Bungalows, nationally popular from 1905 to 1930, typically are one to one-and-one-half stories, with either front or side-gable roofs, with porches often including details such as battered posts on piers, solid balustrades, and an irregular floor plan. They make use of natural materials such as brick and stone, and Norwood Park is no exception to this stylistic feature.

The second most popular style built in the neighborhood is the Colonial Revival (1880-1955), including several examples of the Foursquare form, which typically is two rooms tall and two rooms deep in massing, with either a gable or hip roof and a full-width porch.

The Colonial Revival covers a wide range of building forms, but all typically include two stories, symmetrical massing, and often side-gable roofs with end or central chimneys. This popular style can also be seen at a larger scale with a central portico, hip roofs and a full-width porch. The Dutch Colonial Revival has symmetrical massing, central brick chimney, front entry stoop with a pedimented roof supported by square posts, German siding and gambrel roof. 

The Tudor Revival (1890-1940) house, of which there are a few examples in Norwood Park Historic District, typically is asymmetrical in massing, is built of masonry construction, with steeply pitched multi-gable roofs, casement windows, and an entry stoop. It can include applied half-timbering on the walls and there may be brick surrounds at doors and windows

As is the case with most historic neighborhoods, there have been some architectural changes made since Norwood Park was first laid out in 1914. In most instances, these are minor alterations that do not significantly interfere with the architectural integrity of the houses. These include replacement doors and windows, artificial siding, and small additions that do not overwhelm the original building in mass and scale. Some architectural changes within the neighborhood that have changed building integrity, include full porch enclosures, large additions, major changes to entries, and complete re-designing of prominent front porches. However, despite these changes, Norwood Park Historic District retains a high degree of architectural integrity in its presentation of architectural styles, setback, massing, materials, and street layout, retaining its sense of place and setting.