Smith-McDowell House Museum

283 Victoria Road, Asheville, NC 28801

828-253-9231

Museum Website

Located 1.5 miles from downtown Asheville, the Smith-McDowell House is  one of the "finest antebellum buildings in Western North Carolina." Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was the Asheville's first mansion and is the oldest surviving brick structure in Buncombe County.

In addition to restored period rooms spanning 1840 through 1900, the house also features special history exhibits in its Gallery Rooms.  

The grounds are an Official Treasured Tree Preserve and were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in 1900. 

The Museum’s grounds are also home to the Buncombe County Civil War Memorial.Built by one of antebellum North Carolina’s most influential citizens, it was once the home of mayors, a Confederate Major, and friends of the Vanderbilts at nearby Biltmore Estate (just three miles away). It was built 55 years before the Biltmore House. 

Summer of 2022: The

 museum is temporarily closed for interior renovations.