Zelda Dearest

Asheville, North Carolina

MERITS

2024 Griffin Award for Adaptive Reuse (link to award video)

HISTORIC PRESERVATION / ADAPTIVE RE-USE

Three houses originally built in the 1890s were converted into a 20-room hotel honoring Jazz Age icon Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald and frequent visitor and occasional resident of Asheville.

The exteriors of the homes were kept intact and completely restored, including the existing slate roof on one of the homes, and a rebuilt porch that was removed by a previous owner.

The home at 129 Biltmore is described by the National Register of Historic Places as ”a fashionable two-story Italianate brick dwelling," with "irregular floor plan with projecting front pavilions and round two-story side bay." 

The National Register describes the home at 123 Biltmore as "three-bay, double-pile residence with interior brick chimneys with corbelled caps, decorative gables and hip-roof dormers." It has seen a variety of uses, including an animal hospital and office space.