Grove Park Inn

Grove Park Inn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Grove Park Inn, Front entrance, May 2007
Location:	Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Coordinates:	35°37′14″N 82°32′32″W
Built:	1913
Architect:	Fred Loring Seely
Architectural style:	Arts and Crafts
Governing body:	Sammons Enterprises
NRHP Reference#:	73001295
Added to NRHP:	April 3, 1973

The Grove Park Inn is a historic resort hotel on the western-facing slope of Sunset Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Asheville, North Carolina. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel is an important example of the Arts and Crafts style. It also features a $44 million, 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m²), modern subterranean spa, which placed #13 worldwide in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Hotel Spas in 2008. It is owned by Sammons Enterprises.

History

The Grove Park Inn was conceptualized by Edwin Wiley Grove (1850–1927) with the help of his son-in-law Fred Loring Seely (1871–1942). Seely was married to Evelyn Grove. She was from Grove's first marriage to Mary Louisa (Lou) Moore Grove. Grove owned Paris Medicine Company. Originally based in Paris, Tennessee., the firm was moved to St. Louis. Its primary money making product was Grove's Chill Tonic which was a tasty syrup elixir containing quinine. This formula would help tame the raging chills brought on by malaria. At one time the number of bottles of Chill Tonic outsold bottles of a famous brand of Cola. He believed the climate of Asheville, North Carolina would have health benefits and be the ideal location for a resort. His doctors sent him there to determine if the climate would help reduce or cure his bouts with extreme hiccups. The hiccups would last several weeks at a time.

E.W. Grove began to accumulate the land for the Inn and his Grove Park-Kimberely Avenue developments in 1910. He bought several farms and sloped areas all the way to the top of Sunset Mountain. Construction began in 1912 and was completed in an amazing 11 months and 27 days. This was accomplished by paying high wages to the dedicated workers. Circus tents were erected on the job site to house the workers. The Inn opened July 12, 1913. The hotel was outfitted with furnishings from the Roycrofters of East Aurora, New York, one of the most important designers and manufacturers of Arts and Crafts furniture, metal work and other accessories. The hotel was built of rough granite stones and the expansive lobby is noted for its enormous granite fireplaces and expansive porch with its scenic overlook.

Sketch of the exterior of the Grove Park Inn by Fred Seely, 1912

During World War II, the Inn was used first as an internment center for Axis diplomats. The diplomats and their staff were allowed guarded trips to town where they would purchase goods from the local merchants. This was a boon to the strapped local economy. The Inn was then used by the Navy as a rest and rehabilitation center for returning sailors. In 1944-45, the hotel was an Army Redistribution Station where soldiers rested and relaxed before being assigned to other duties. The Philippine Government functioned in exile from the Presidential Cottage on the grounds during the war.

The Grove Park Inn became part of Sammons Enterprises in 1955. The resort has been expanded over the years under the direction of the owners Mr. and Mrs. Sammons and continues to be a popular tourist attraction. Although pets are prohibited at the Inn, Mrs. Sammons would bring her dog in under cover in a baby carriage. Mrs. Sammons died in 2008.

The Grove Park Inn has accumulated a significant collection of Arts and Crafts decorative items and hosts an important Arts and Crafts conference once a year.

Golf course

The golf club at the Grove Park Inn predates the hotel. It first opened for play in 1899, and was redesigned in 1924 by Donald Ross. Now owned by the resort, the par-70 course is a member club that is also open to the public and guests.

Famous guests

Harvey Firestone, Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford and Fred Seely at Grove Park Inn, 1918

The hotel has hosted numerous celebrities over the years including William Jennings Bryan (who spoke at the hotel's opening), Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Elbert Hubbard, Woodrow Wilson, John D. Rockefeller, Gen. John J. Pershing, Dean Smith, Jerry Seinfeld, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, John Waters, David & Amy Sedaris, Mischa Barton, Mike Huckabee, current NC Governor Bev Perdue, Sanjay Gupta, Trey Anastasio, Charles Schwab, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Enrico Caruso, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bobby Jones, Wiley Post, Will Rogers, Bill Tilden, Billy Graham, Barack Obama, William Shatner, Don Cheadle, Vijay Kansupada, and many others.

On February 3, 1930 William Howard Taft resigned from the US Supreme Court in the Great Hall Lobby.

In 1999, gospel artist Bill Gaither recorded "Mountain Homecoming" in his series of Gaither Homecoming videos and CDs in the Great Hall lobby including artists Gloria Gaither, Mark Lowry, Larry Gatlin, the Bishops, Stephen Hill, Joy Gardner, and Ben Isaacs.

Citations

Stuart Tillery (Mixed Martial Artist visited here in 2011.

Sources

• The Grove Park Inn Story, 1984
• Johnson, Bruce E. Built for the Ages: A History of the Grove Park Inn, Grove Park Inn and Country Club: Asheville, NC, 1991

External links

• The Grove Park Inn Spa & Resort official website
• Learn more about the Living at the Grove Park Inn
• UNC Historic Photos of the Grove Park Inn
• Photos from the 2001 Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference
• Visitor Information for the Grove Park Inn Resort
• Asheville, North Carolina, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary