Evelyn Place

Turn right onto Evelyn (at the traffic light) and continue along Evelyn until it ends at Charlotte Street. Along the way:

• 107 Evelyn: Richard Sharp Smith also designed this Colonial Revival home for William Jennings Bryan and blueprints describe it as “a cottage”. Bryan was a three-time candidate for U.S. President and Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson and wanted a home that represented classic Americana. However, despite his political career, Bryan is most remembered as the prosecuting attorney for the “Scopes Monkey Trial” in 1925 and for making the very long ribbon-cutting speech at the Grove Park Inn in 1913. In the 1980’s- 2010, the home was nicknamed “The Christmas House” for its year-round outdoor Christmas decorations which extended to every room inside the house. The current owners completed an extensive renovation that will ensure the home’s stability for many years to come.

• Notice the majestic American Sycamores and London Plane trees along both sides of Evelyn. Part of the design of the Grove Park neighborhood was to plant trees contiguously along streets to lengthen the vista and create continuity between homes. The London Plane is the first cousin of the American Sycamore. How do you tell the difference? The Sycamore is larger, has more solid leaves and a single fruit; the London Plane has leaves with deep lobes and a double fruit. Both are excellent urban trees ---and London Planes are common in large European cities, too---as they are tolerant of city conditions and provide a lot of shade for city sidewalks and streets.

• 73 Evelyn, The Otto Palm House: What is it about this house that automatically draws your attention? It’s the French Colonial architecture. Just as the many other “Colonial” styles have echoes of their country of inspiration, French is effortlessly elegant and always memorable. Otto Palm built this home in 1925 and it’s widely believed to be the only French Colonial in Asheville. The current owners noticed that there always seemed to be a breeze when they walked down Evelyn from E.W. Grove Park and have affectionately named the house “Evelyn Breeze”.

• 66 Evelyn: The massive columns on this gracious 1914 Arts and Crafts style home make a statement! Situated on one of the largest lots in the Grove Park Neighborhood, the home is surrounded by large trees and was meticulously restored to make an ideal family home. Don’t miss the 200+ year old massive white oak tree in the backyard that you can see from the street. White oaks, which take their name from the color of the finished wood, can live for several hundred years and many of similar size can be found throughout the Grove Park Neighborhood.

• 69 Evelyn: One of the best home transitions from a 1950’s ranch to an Arts and Crafts masterpiece. The core of this home was built in 1958 on a prime lot of this highly desirable street. By raising the roof and using stone and other timber details, the house was transformed into an English cottage. New details like a permeable driveway and other green features put this charming home firmly in the 21st century.

• 33 Evelyn: Stand back and admire the symmetry plus the perfect front yard and you’ll see why this home was photographed by Lowe’s for use in one of their brochures. Ranches like this seamlessly blend with any historic neighborhood. The massive tree with the sprawling roots and attractive peeling bark is an American Sycamore while the equally beautiful tree with the smooth bark is its close relative, a London Plane.

• 90 Gertrude Place, The Oates House (on the corner of Gertrude and Evelyn): One of the most famous homes in the Grove Park Neighborhood, the house sits on a promontory above Gertrude Place and E.W. Grove Park. A 1913 Richard Sharp Smith masterpiece, it has prime views of both St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (also designed by Richard Sharp Smith) and the park and was built for Central Bank President J. Rush Oates while Smith was the principal architect with Smith and Carrier. Building materials include stucco on masonry. Stylistically, 90 Gertrude illustrates a design juncture between Arts and Crafts and the emerging Prairie School (popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright) of the Arts and Crafts movement. 90 Gertrude’s renovations have received numerous recognitions, including PSABC’s Griffin Award.