Smith-McDowell House Museum

Smith-McDowell House Museum Review

This is the oldest surviving brick house in Asheville, dating from 1840. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1900. The interior has much of the house's original Greek Revival woodwork, and restored rooms date from 1840 to 1900. Exhibits in the gallery focus on Asheville's early history. On the grounds is the Buncombe County Civil War Memorial, listing the names of the 551 soldiers from Buncombe County who died in the war. From mid-November to early January the house has Victorian Christmas displays, and it also hosts the campy Aluminum Christmas Tree Museum, a collection of pop-culture trees from the 1950s and '60s.