19th century

The house was constructed c. 1840 for James McConnell Smith on a portion of the land owned by his father, Colonel Daniel Smith, a Revolutionary War veteran.^[3][2] Daniel Smith originally purchased the 300 acres of land at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers in 1796 from another veteran, William Steward, for $100.^[5] James Smith was the second mayor of Asheville and one of the wealthiest landowners and businessmen in the region.^[2] He was also one of Buncombe County's largest enslavers, holding at least 70 people captive around the time this house was constructed. It is likely that enslaved people built the house and provided labor for most of his money-making endeavors.^[6] His businesses included a toll bridge across the French Broad River, the Buck Hotel, a tannery, a gristmill, a sawmill, and a mercantile.^[2][7] Smith's choice of brick for his farmhouse was a show of wealth as this building material was atypical for antebellum western North Carolina.^[3]

After Smith died in 1856, the estate and 13 people he enslaved were passed to his son, John Patton Smith. John died in 1859 without a will and the house and several of those enslaved were auctioned as part of his estate.^[6] His sister, Sarah Lucinda, and her husband, Confederate Major William Wallace McDowell, bought the house and 350 acres (140 ha) for $10,000.^[8][9] The McDowells raised eight children in their home and added more enslaved people, eventually numbering approximately 40.^[6] The McDowells lived there until 1880 when post-Civil War financial difficulties forced them to sell.^[9]

In 1881, Alexander Garrett purchased and modernized the house, including connecting the summer kitchen to the main house and adding a solarium, Italianate windows, and a metal roof to replace the original wood shingles.^[9] Garret built the Oakland Inn down the road from his house and became the mayor of Victoria, a small community built on former Smith-McDowell plantation property.^[9] Garret died in 1897, leaving the house to his son, Robert, who sold the house and 6 acres (2.4 ha) to Dr. Charles Van Bergen for $10,000.^[9]

20th century

Van Bergen hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the son of the then-deceased Frederick Law Olmsted, to design a landscape plan for the property.^[2] Socialite Caroline Bates McKee purchased the house in 1909, followed by Brewster Chapman in 1913.^[10] Chapman hired architect Richard Sharp Smith, previously supervising architect for the construction of Biltmore, to redesign the interior of the main level.^[3] Changes included adding a side entrance, bathrooms, new mantles on the main level, mahogany doors, and oak flooring throughout. Exterior changes included adding decorative caps to the chimneys and the addition of a red slate roof.

In 1951, Smith–McDowell House was converted into classrooms (main level) and a dormitory (upper two levels) for a private high school.^[2][3] Years of neglect, followed by the school's closing, had ravaged the structure that was part of land acquisition by Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 1961.^[11][12] In 1974, the Western North Carolina Historical Association (WNCHA) leased the house from the community college and began its restoration.^[13] Under the supervision of architect Henry Gaines, the restoration took six years.^[13]

Smith-McDowell House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.^[14] The association opened Smith-McDowell House Museum on May 31, 1981.^[15] The museum was organized as a timeline house museum, showing how families lived during the late 19th and early 20th-centuries. It also featured changing exhibits relating to the history of Western North Carolina.

21st Century

In 2020, WNCHA purchased the house and the small parcel of surrounding land from the community college and began work on a new interpretive plan and interior restorations closer to the mansion's 1840s appearance. The walls were painted white and the baseboards a dark brown. In October 2023, the house reopened as the Asheville Museum of History with all new permanent exhibits.