City Building of Asheville, NC

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	The City Building of Asheville was built between 1926-1928 . The building's structure emerges from the ground in fortress-like style. It is constructed out of Georgia Pink marble, brick, and terra cotta. The prevailing ornament is the feather motif reminiscent of the Native American epoch. The roof is the logo of the City of Asheville. The total cost of the building was just over fifty cents a cubic foot. There was supposed to be a matching County Building but Buncombe County did not like the way that Douglas Ellington had designed it. The two buildings were to have been in architectural balance, but just enough variation between the two to be distinct. The original plaster model of the proposed County Building sits in the lobby of the City Building. Click here to view the original plaster model. Douglas Ellington read in the January 2, 1927 newspaper that he had not been given the commission to build the matching County Building. Read his letter he wrote to the Commissioners of Buncombe County in response to this decision. The City Building of Asheville has become recognized as one of Douglas Ellington's greatest works in Asheville. The City Building was put on the National Register of Historic Places on July 11, 1976.
City Building in the late 1920's.
	Links Click on the links below to learn more about City Building of Asheville. Structural highlights of the City Building. Article published in June 1929 about the City Building architecture. Chimes of the City Building Click here to learn more about and listen to the City Building chimes.
City Building in 2001.