The Bon Marché Building of Asheville, North Carolina, now the Haywood Park Hotel, [1] was built in 1923 by E.W. Grove for the store's owner, Solomon Lipinsky. [2] This was several years before Grove began construction on nearby Grove Arcade, one of Asheville's most famous architectural landmarks. [3] The Bon Marché building was designed by W.L. Stoddart, a hotel architect who also designed the Battery Park Hotel and Vanderbilt Hotel. [4]
It now houses the Haywood Park Hotel, a member of Historic Hotels of America.
This new building served as a larger location for the Bon Marché, originally called Lipinsky and Ellick, which was founded in downtown Asheville in the 1890s. [5] The owner, Solomon Lipinsky, was a prominent Jewish businessman and community leader in Asheville. [6] from the 1890s to 1978, nearly 90 years, the Bon Marché became the longest running department store in Asheville's history. [7] The name Bon Marché, meaning "the good deal" or "the good market" in French, came from Le Bon Marché, one of the world's first department stores located in Paris. [8]
In a 1938 letter to Solomon Lipinsky's son, Lewis Lipinsky, in preparation for the store's 50th anniversary, Asheville author Thomas Wolfe says "…Bon Marché is such a landmark in Asheville life that if I ever heard anything had happened to it I think I should feel almost as if Beaucatcher Mountain had been violently removed from the landscape by some force of nature. I know that as long as I can remember, at any rate, it has always stood with the women folk at home for the best in merchandise and fashion…" [9]
After The Bon Marché Store moved across the street in 1937, Ivey's Department Store took over the Bon Marché building. Ivey's Department Store became a staple in downtown Asheville during the mid-20th century.
In 1985 the Bon Marché building was renovated with the removal of some 1950s and 1960s additions, such as a semicircular awning incompatible with the building's original style. The Haywood Street Redevelopment Corp. converted it into the Haywood Park Hotel and Atrium, a multi-use property which currently houses the Haywood Park Hotel, Isa's Bistro, [10] as well as retail and office spaces; the conversion was completed in 1988. [11] [12] The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America. [13]
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