The Original Blueprint Front Elevation

A Page from an Architectural Journal

W. Vance Brown

The Original Montford Subdivision, 1894

The W. Vance Brown Family

The W. Vance Brown House was designed in 1900 by Richard Sharp Smith, just five years after final construction of the Biltmore House. Smith was the resident and supervising architect for the erection of the Biltmore House and it was through close association and friendship with George W. Vanderbilt that he was persuaded to remain and practice in Asheville.

In 1901, W. Vance Brown and his wife Daphne moved into the house and all five of their children were subsequently born there. The family was prominent in Asheville.
Brown was President of the Asheville Mica Company, served on the Asheville School Board, was a member of the North Carolina Tax Commission and was a leader at The Trinity Episcopal Church.

By 1937 the house was a boarding house, owned by Mr. and Mrs. George Webb. Little is known about Mr. and Mrs. Webb and or why they took boarders. What is known is that their son, David, went on become a major jewelry designer in New York City. David Webb designs were worn by Doris Day, Susan Haywood and Lana Turner among others. President and Mrs. Kennedy commissioned him to make gifts for visiting heads of state. As a boy, David worked in the small cottage on the property making ashtrays in a curled leaf pattern or shaped like a dogwood blossom which he sold in town. As a designer his trademark look included jewel encrusted animal figures: leopards and frogs wrought in gold and platinum with inlayed diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

In 1987 the house was purchased and became the Carolina Bed & Breakfast as it remains to this day.