Maxwell Apartments
Contributing, ca. 1920.
Four-story Neo-Classical Revival apartment building, built in two wings, with a courtyard between. Added onto a two-story Classical Revival brick house at the rear. Front portion has a front gable roof with a flat roof behind. High hip roof on the older portion at the rear. Rear wing with a flat roof added at rear of original house portion. Brick veneer walls, with limestone details on the front section, including "Maxwell Apartments" carved over the front entry quoins, and garland swags. Front arched entry into the courtyard has been enclosed. Storefronts modernized. Windows are six-over-one, four-over-one, and one-over-one.
According to the current owner, this was the first apartment building in town. It was built by Sylvester Maxwell, a realtor who developed other sections of the neighborhood. The front portion of the building was added onto an already existing boarding house known as the Dickinson, which was built ca. 1920. The front was added ca. 1927. City directories by the 1930s indicate there were fourteen apartments, most of them occupied through the 1930s and 1940s. There were also three stores on the street level.
From 1937 to 1938, 629 Fifth Avenue West was occupied by Great A & P Company, grocers. In the early to mid-1940s, Jax Pax Store, grocers, occupied 629-631 Fifth Avenue West. 625 Fifth Avenue West remained vacant in the late 1930s to early 1940s, with Lawrence Inc. radios occupying this space from 1945 to 1949. L. B. Price Mercantile Company occupied 623 Fifth Avenue West beginning in 1941, with City Electric Company occupying this space from 1945 to 1946. 627 Fifth Avenue West apparently was the apartment entrance, known in the late 1940s as the Jackson Apartments. Hendersonville architect Erle Stillwell designed several apartment buildings in town, and this may have been one of his designs.
(Sanborn maps, city directories, owner)
Ambassador Apartments
Contributing, ca. 1926.
Three-story Neo-Classical Revival apartment building with a center hall. Parapet roof with limestone urns, brick facing over tile construction, and brick quoins. Broken pediment at front entry with "Ambassador" inscribed in the limestone. Classical details in limestone surround the door. Windows are eight-over-eight, with keystones. Multi-light front door. Multi-light side doors with sidelights, some opening onto balconies. Large lot with mature trees. May have been designed by Erle Stillwell. This was built as apartments, with eighteen units in the building. Sanborn maps indicate this may have been subdivided from the Baker House at 613 Fourth Avenue West (#179).
(Sanborn maps, city directories, owner)
Office Building
Non-contributing, ca. 1954.
One-story Ranch style building now divided into office units. Low hip roof with wide eaves, painted brick veneer, and recessed entry stoop with original iron posts. Brick interior chimney. Modern windows and doors. Large corner lot. It appears this building was originally built as offices, with Dr. Jason D. Lutz and Dr. Frank W. McClure as occupants beginning in 1954. It was at one time owned by the King sisters from King's Hardware, Ross Rowland, Burt Lance, and Russell Barne, the current owner.
(Sanborn maps, city directories, owner)
Cordelia Bibee House
Contributing, ca. 1920.
One-and-one-half-story-plus-basement bungalow with a side gable roof and shed roof dormers. Knee braces and exposed rafter ends. Rear wing and porch added between 1922 to 1926. Engaged front porch details include square posts and solid balustrade. Original weatherboard siding. Three vertical-over-one windows and three-light-over-panel door. Lot slopes to rear. Mrs. Cordelia Bibee, widow of John M. Bibee, lived here from 1937 to at least 1951, often renting rooms.
(Sanborn maps, city directories)
Mary J. Green House
Contributing, ca. 1920.
One and one-half-story plus basement bungalow with a steep side gable roof, and a front gable dormer. Vinyl siding. Engaged front porch with lattice work added, solid balustrade. Stairs added from porch to second floor apartment. Six-over-one windows, with some replacements, and modern door. Miss Mary J. Green lived here from 1937 to 1946. Reverend John Barringer and Evelyn M. Barringer lived here from 1948 to 1949. He was pastor at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church. Sherman Odom of Macon, Georgia, lived here from 1950 to 1951.
(Sanborn maps, city directories)