The Bon Marché Building of Asheville, North Carolina
The Bon Marché Building of Asheville, North Carolina, now the Haywood Park Hotel,[1] was built in 1923 by E.W. Grove for the store's owner, Solomon Lipinsky.[2] This was several years before Grove began construction on nearby Grove Arcade, one of Asheville's most famous architectural landmarks.[3] The Bon Marché building was designed by W.L. Stoddart, a hotel architect who also designed the Battery Park Hotel and Vanderbilt Hotel.[4]
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It now houses the Haywood Park Hotel, a member of Historic Hotels of America.
This new building served as a larger location for the Bon Marché, originally called Lipinsky and Ellick, which was founded in downtown Asheville in the 1890s.[5] The owner, Solomon Lipinsky, was a prominent Jewish businessman and community leader in Asheville.[6] from the 1890s to 1978, nearly 90 years, the Bon Marché became the longest running department store in Asheville's history.[2] The name Bon Marché, meaning "the good deal" or "the good market" in French, came from Le Bon Marché, one of the world's first department stores located in Paris.[7]
In a 1938 letter to Solomon Lipinsky's son, Lewis Lipinsky, in preparation for the store's 50th anniversary, Asheville author Thomas Wolfe says "…Bon Marché is such a landmark in Asheville life that if I ever heard anything had happened to it I think I should feel almost as if Beaucatcher Mountain had been violently removed from the landscape by some force of nature. I know that as long as I can remember, at any rate, it has always stood with the women folk at home for the best in merchandise and fashion…" [citation needed]
After The Bon Marché Store moved across the street in 1937, Ivey's Department Store took over the Bon Marché building. Ivey's Department Store became a staple in downtown Asheville during the mid-20th century.
In 1985 the Bon Marché building was renovated with the removal of some 1950s and 1960s additions, such as a semicircular awning incompatible with the building's original style. The Haywood Street Redevelopment Corp. converted it into the Haywood Park Hotel and Atrium, a multi-use property which currently houses the Haywood Park Hotel, Isa's Bistro,[8] as well as retail and office spaces; the conversion was completed in 1988.[9][10] The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Hotels in Asheville, NC | Haywood Park Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection". www.haywoodpark.com. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ a b The Family Store: A history Of Jewish Businesses In Downtown Asheville, 1880-1990 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2011)
- ^ "E.W. Grove & Grove Arcade: A Brief History" (PDF). Grove Arcade. 2006.
- ^ Angie Clifton; Marvin C. Housworth; Adam Ronan (2009). "Stoddart, William Lee (1868 - 1940)". North Carolina Architects & Builders: A Biographical Dictionary. NCSU Library. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
- ^ "Lipinsky Family Collection".
- ^ "WNC's 50 Most Influential People, Past & Present", WNC Magazine, January 2008, archived from the original on 2011-04-16, retrieved April 18, 2011
- ^ Souvenir of the Bon Marché, founded by Aristide Boucicaut, Lipinsky Family Papers, Special Collections, D.H. Ramsey Library, UNC Asheville: The Bon Marche by Imprimerie Lahure, 1896, archived from the original on March 19, 2007
- ^ "Fine Dining Restaurants in Asheville, NC | Isa's French Bistro". www.isasbistro.com. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
- ^ "Commission Approves Next Phase Of Haywood Park Renewal". Asheville Citizen & Times. February 27, 1986. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Haywood Park Hotel Project Completed". Asheville Citizen & Times. October 22, 1988. p. 10A – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Haywood Park". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
