Thomas Jarrett House

Bishir, Catherine. North Carolina Architecture.  The University of North Carolina Press; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1990.

The Heritage of Old Buncombe County. Vol. I.  The Old Buncombe County Geneological Society; Asheville, North Carolina, 1981.

Swain, Douglas, ed. Cabins and Castles: The History of Architecture of Buncombe County, North Carolina.  City of Asheville, County of Buncombe, Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1981.

Additional Sources:

James, W.T. Pedigree Chart prepared for family. 14920 Clavel Street, Rockville, Maryland. Chart #10; March 28, 1992.

Buncombe County Register of Deeds: Book #90, page 520; Book 447, page 205; Book 456, page 483; Book 459, page 3; Book 604, page 441; Book 606, page 228; Book 641, page 151; Book 1000, page 69;

Blumenson, John J.-G.. Identifying American Architecture; A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945.  American Association for State and Local History; Nashville, Tennessee, 1977.

1.  The Thomas Jarrett House is located at Asheville. Constructed circa 1894, the frame house with its prominent two-tiered, lavishly decorated portico faces east, toward Louisiana Avenue. Located between Patton Avenue and Haywood Road, two major roadways serving Asheville, the Jarrett House has survived the growth of outlying Asheville as it evolved from open farmland to the 1920s-era urban community that it is today. Built on approximately one acre, which Thomas purchased from his father, the house stands on the same lot in a dense residential neighborhood of one story frame bungalows on tree-lined streets, which lies between a turn-of-the-century commercial district to the south and a modern development of fast food restaurants, service stations and shopping centers to the north. The Jarrett House dominates the streetscape of bungalows, and mid-twentieth century houses. Its Queen Anne-influenced style and I-House mass quickly identify it as a survivor of a bygone era.

The house stands on a lot that is virtually level with a slope not exceeding four percent from the street to the rear of the property. On the north corner of the property is a small, frame, gable-roofed garage that probably dates from the same era as the house, and to the rear of the house are a small stucco storage building and wood shed, both of which date from around 1940.  In the front yard, adjacent to the sidewalk, stands one of a few massive oak trees which provide shade and character to the lot. Placed in various locations around the lot are smaller more ornamental trees and shrubs. Many of these provide shelter from adjacent lots and help to visually outline the property boundaries.  There are no paved sidewalks, driveways, or paths on the property.

The popular styles of the Victorian era clearly influenced the appearance of this vernacular I-house built by Thomas Jarrett who was a millwright, carpenter, and builder.  The house is a two-story, balloon-framed structure, with an original off-centered two-story ell at the rear, and a cross-gable roof. The main (east) facade is decorated by a two-tiered, gable-roofed portico. The portico is centered on the rectangular main body of the house,

The main (east) facade of the house is symmetrical in design, with aligned first and second story windows flanking the main entrance. The west, or rear elevation, has a shed roofed, one bay wide shelter over the cellar door, with one window above it. The south elevation has two doors and three windows and a one-story shed-roofed porch that runs the length of the rear ell. At the southeast intersection of the main block of the house and the rear ell, an early-twentieth-century, shed-roofed, one-story bathroom intersects with the porch. The main gable ends of the house feature centered windows and wooden fixed-louver gable vents.

With the exception of a nine-light window in the bathroom addition, all windows in the structure appear to be the original four-over-four, double-hung sash. All glazing appears to be original. Each window features a unique interior wooden locking mechanism is further detailed in the sketch labeled Exhibit A. The main entry door assembly is composed of a three-panel wooden door with a half-light in the upper portion and two-light transom above. Aligned above the entry door, at the second level of the portico, is a solid four panel door opening to the upstairs porch.

Three interior brick chimneys serve six fireplaces. The chimney in the main block the house displays some moderate corbelling. The center chimney in the rear ell has no corbelling. The chimney serving the kitchen at the rear of the ell is much smaller in size, and has an arched cap of brick that provides protection from the weather. This chimney has no foundation, but sits directly on the upper floor level and has a flue that opens to the kitchen below.

Thomas Jarrett was a millwright and his craftsmanship on his house is evident from the stone foundation to the composite roofing material, with an abundance of fine woodworking in between. The primary architectural material above the exposed fieldstone foundation is wood.  Above the foundation is a wooden water table that defines the beginning of the lap siding. All of the original lap siding is of interest because the bottom edge has been coved to provide a curved profile, as opposed to the more prominent square edge profile. It is not to be confused, however, with German siding. All corner boards are four inches wide and where two

All exterior door and window trim is four inches wide. The architraves of all the doors and windows are decorated with an ornamental sloped wooden hood with scrolled brackets and crown moulding at the bottom of the sloped cap to provide additional profile.

The Queen Anne-style influenced two-story portico is the most decorated and ornate element of the exterior. Each level of the portico has turned posts, sawn and turned bracket and spandrel work, punctuated by pendants. Each level has a beadboard-paneled ceiling. The upper level of the portico has the original tongue-and-groove decking material, but that on the lower level has been replaced with a concrete slab. Each level has sawn-work balustrades. The cap and bottom rails are the same profiles, but the upper level has a flower, stem, and leaf pattern; while the lower level is a geometric pattern.

Barge trim at the gable overhang, which extends 16 inches past the gable wall, has crown moulding at the shingle line. Flush with the fascia line is arched, wooden gable ornamentation. The semi­circular ornamentation has a chamfered king post and collar beam, as well as intricate sawn detailing appearing in the arc of the semicircle.

A wide rake trim appears at the gable wall and the overhang is trimmed with barge trim and crown moulding at the shingle line, creating another shadow line in the roof profile. Flush with the gable wall is a fixed wooden vent. This has the typical hood and bracket trim that appears on all doors and windows. The placement of the ornamental bracket in the gable gives the illusion that the gable wall sets much farther back than it really does. This detailing is typical of all gables of the house, with the exception of the rear gable ornamentation which is missing.

The interior of the main block are arranged around a central stair/foyer with one room at each side on both floors. The parlor is on the left side of the entrance foyer and to the right side is the living room.  The rear ell contains a connecting dining room and kitchen on the first floor that are accessed through the living room.  The kitchen and dining room open to the side porch. In the

The parlor, living, and dining rooms on the main floor all have fireplaces with wooden mantels that were likely mail-ordered. The mantels have plain architraves with mantle shelves supported by scrolled brackets. The kitchen has a flue in the ceiling for a wood cookstove.

The wooden four-paneled interior doors retain the original carpenter locksets and hinges. All of the doors are one-and-one-quarter inch thick and are mortised together. All casings are four and three-quarter inches wide and beaded in a pattern of four beads down the center of the casing.

The interior window trim measures five and three-quarter inches wide and has the same bead pattern as the door casing. All baseboard measures seven-and one-quarter inches wide and has a quarter-round moulding trim on top and bottom of the base. It appears that all the trim possibly was run on the same milling pattern, but with different width boards.

All floors are oak, with the exception of the kitchen and dining room which presently have the remnants of vinyl floor covering. All walls and ceilings are horsehair plaster on sawn wood lath.

2. Garage.   circa 1894.  contributing

The building is located on the north corner of the property, and appears to have been built as a garage and storage building. The date of construction appears to be of the same period based on building materials. It is a simple one-story gable roof structure with similar siding and trim details, however some of the more intricate detailing of the house is not present on this structure. The structure is two bays wide and one bay deep.

3.  Storage building.   circa 1940.   non-contributing

The storage building is located approximately 100 feet to the rear of the house and is of later construction. This end-gable frame structure is approximately fourteen feet square supported by

4.  Wood Shed.  circa 1940.   non-contributing

The wood shed is located approximately five feet to the rear of the storage building (3). It is a simple shed roof structure, with a portion of this framed in beneath for dry storage, while the balance of the roof creates an exterior covered area. Both this structure and (3) are not of the same time period as the house, but are in scale with the original structures and do not detract from the overall character of the site.

The Thomas Jarrett House is eligible for listing in the National Register under criterion C for architecture. Built about 1894, the house is a remarkably intact example of a vernacular I-House form decorated with Queen Anne-style embellishments of the Victorian period. Now surrounded by bungalows and later twentieth-century residential architecture, the 1894 Jarrett House is a fine example of late nineteenth-century vernacular architecture that characterized that era's development in Asheville. Its builder and original owner was Thomas Jarrett, a millwright, woodworker, craftsman, and builder, who worked at the Clayton Mill in Asheville.  Jarrett's occupation, as well as his skill as a craftsman, is reflected in the almost unchanged form and exuberant, nearly intact wooden detailing of his house.

Architectural Context: The Thomas Jarrett House is a fine example of a local interpretation of popular Victorian architecture of the late nineteenth century.  This vernacular architecture, as well as more refined "high" styles of design characterized Asheville's landscape at that time.  The influence that popular architecture had on the builders of Asheville is evidenced by structures like the Jarrett House. While the plan of the house is typical of the period, the architectural woodwork that embellishes the exterior and interior of the house sets it apart.   The basic I-house form contains extensive Queen Anne-inspired detailing and is representative of structures built in the Asheville area during the boom period dating from 1880 through the early 1900s.   Perhaps the most striking element of architecture in Asheville at this time was the growing presence of ornamentation and prefabricated building components. This was a result of manufacturers creating architectural detailing that replaced the hand-carved elements of previous years, thus making these components more readily available and affordable to a wider variety of people (Bishir, North Carolina Architecture, page, 275).

The Jarrett House belongs to a family of related structures built in Asheville at the turn of the century, including two houses at 71 West Street and Hillside Street.  Both of these one-room-deep structures were built with similar Queen Anne detailing, especially in the gable ornamentation (Cabins and Castles, page 188-189).  A significant feature of the Jarrett House, as well as others built

The Jarrett house was constructed about 1894 by the owner, Thomas Jarrett. He was an accomplished woodwright, craftsman, and builder, who worked for the Clayton Mills, in Asheville. The mill had been established by Ephraim Clayton, who was a prominent builder in western North Carolina and was responsible for many structures there as well as in South Carolina and Georgia during the antebellum period and through Reconstruction. The 1860 Industrial Census reports show that his sash and blind mill on Valley Street was then operating.  He was a proponent of industrializing mill operations to assist the Confederate army during the Civil War (Cabins and Castles, page, 68).  Thomas Jarrett worked for the mill in the later years of the nineteenth century, and it is likely that the millwork for his house was patterned there.  Clayton Mills participated in a building boom, prompted in part by improved railroad service to Asheville.  The construction industry in the city grew remarkably in the -years between the Civil War and the turn of the century.  Technology, quality, and quantity of construction continued to meet the demands of the increasing population.  The Queen Anne-style ornamentation on the Jarrett house attests to early years of this boom, while the later part of it is characterized by the 1920s-era neighborhood surrounding it.

Historical Background:

In the late eighteenth century Thomas Jarrett's great-great­grandfather, Daniel, migrated from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to a portion of Mecklenburg County that is now Cabbarrus County. He worked as a tax collector for North Carolina, and upon his eventual settlement in the new community of Asheville in Buncombe County, he. received sixteen land grants totaling some 1,714 acres on the west

Thomas was born the third of twelve children to James and Lucinda Jarrett in Buncombe County in 1855. It is noted in family history that James was granted colonel status by the Confederate Army, possibly because he provided aid and provisions for the troops.  it is not known if this was an honorary or official designation. James was a fairly prominent land owner in the area, and the grantor of the one-acre lot that Thomas built on (Buncombe County Book of Deeds: Book #90, page 520).  The date of conveyance was recorded as August 13, 1894, approximately one year prior to the death of Thomas Jarrett (Pedigree chart prepared by: W.T. James, Rockville, Md) .

Upon the death of Thomas's widow, Catherine, the house and property was conveyed to her daughters, Eva Jarrett Crook and Ella Jarrett Butler.  During the Depression, the property went to auction for back taxes, and the City of Asheville bought the property for the sum of $162.15.  Within three years, Eva Crook and Ella Bulter purchased the property back at auction for the sum of $154.55. Upon Ella Butler's death, her share of the property was conveyed to Eva, and upon her death to her husband, G.B. Crook. Upon his death, the property was conveyed through heirs to the existing owners, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Estridge. (Buncombe County Registrar of Deeds office).