Mountaineer Motor Tours

09/14/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out for our architecture yesterday highlighting the works of Douglas Ellington! It was a beautiful day and time well spent. We have one architecture tour remaining with tickets left on Sunday, 9/20 from 1-4pm. We are offering locals 20% off on tickets by using code LOCAL at check out. I want to let everyone know we appreciate your support so much! A portion of proceeds from the tour goes to the Asheville City Schools Foundation (I am an alumni of Asheville High) First Baptist Church (who does a great deal of service for the community) and the Douglas Ellington House (who preserves the legacy of Douglas Ellington). This tour also brings together several other local historians who join us at various locations and uses the Gray Line Trolley Tours of Asheville trolleys who are wonderful to work with. There is a link to tickets in our story and in the comments. Photo by Camilla Calnan Photography

09/10/2026

We love 1920s Asheville history but did you know our town also has lots of great Mid Century Modernist design too? (More on that coming soon!) My little border collie also loves design and the Egg Chair is one of her favorite places to nap.

09/09/2026

On the ground floor of Asheville’s Drhumor building was Arthur Field’s jewelry store, one of the city’s finest. It was replete with hand carved dark wooden shelves and precision lighting to show off his creations. In 1927, Asheville debuted the design of our new City Hall from local architect, Douglas Ellington in the window of Mr. Field’s jewelry store. Ellington created a plaster model (still on display in the small museum in city hall today) as well as a beautiful water color to promote this exciting new building. One of Mr. Fields employees, a jeweler named Harry Sage entered a city wide competition to design the new city seal for the building. This seal still graces the left side of the entrance to city hall and the lobby. If you’d like to learn more about this remarkable time in Asheville’s history, I hope you’ll join us for our Douglas Ellington themed architecture tours this Sunday, 9/13 and 9/20 from 1-4pm. This is a trolley tour with several stops, beginning at Asheville High School, traveling to S&W Cafeteria, First Baptist Church, City Hall and Ellington’s personal home in Chunns Cove. Comment “Ellington” if you would like more information!

09/08/2026

In November of 1895, local Asheville attorney and mayor at the time, William J. Cocke signed a contract with several local builders to construct a new retail and office building. It would be named “Drhumor” as an homage to his grandfather’s ancestral home in Ireland. Drhumor (pronounced drum-ore) is the anglicization of “dorim mhor) meaning “great ridge” or “great mound.” It was built on the site of a small home where Cocke was born and raised, at the corner of Church and Patton Avenue. It would be started the same year Biltmore house was completed. Cocke hired architect Allen Melton to design it in the Romanesque revival style. Along with Melton Fred Miles, a skilled stone carver known for his work at Biltmore was hired to carve a limestone frieze and ornamentation inside the building as well. Samuel Bean, a stonecutter from Biltmore and J.M Westall construction would build much of the structure. The building even had electric lights, installed by the West Asheville Improvement Company. It opened in 1896 with Arthur Field’s jewelry occupying much of the first floor, Morgan and Alexander’s Clothing and Furniture Store and the Kerr-Hodges shoe company, as well as tenants seeking office space. The limestone carved frieze attracted the attention of many locals, including a florist named Cyrus Deake or “Old Man Deake” who is said to be immortalized on the corner of Church St and Patton avenues. The building was later sold for $125,000 to downtown merchant Solomon Lipinsky around 1914 (owner of Bon Marche). He would sell it in 1929 to Wachovia Bank for $425,000. Wachovia was said to have budgeted for another $200,000 in remodeling. This included removing a portion of the frieze for a new limestone entrance on the Patton Ave side (moving the entrance from the corner to the side) removing the tower on the top and completely renovating the inside of the building. When they first purchased the property, there was some debate on whether or not they would demolish or renovate the building. Wachovia would inhabit the building until 1969, when they hired local firm Six Associates to design their new headquarters across the street. At this time, First Citizen’s Bank moved in.

09/07/2026

Having some fun with Tim Line•Of•Sight•tech on a bloopers/90s retro video game feel of the Model T out on a recent cruise!

09/07/2026

Asheville Symphony in the park was amazing last night (the conclusion to the Boomtown Arts & Heritage FestAVL )! It is always such a feel good event, that reminds me of Asheville when I was a kid. Pack a picnic, grabs some chairs and enjoy the evening with an amazing stage background of mountains and some great architecture!

09/03/2026

Thank you to The Beacon Tribune for this nice highlight of our upcoming Douglas Ellington Architecture tour!

Step aboard a trolley and take a trip through Asheville’s 1920s building boom, with stops at five buildings designed by architect Douglas Ellington. The architectural tour runs from 1-4 p.m.