House #5

321 Pearson Drive was originally part of the extensive holdings of Col. Franklin Coxe, who came to Asheville in the early 1880’s.  He built the Battery Park Hotel, and at one time was the highest tax payer in the City of Asheville.  His son, Tench Coxe, built the ‘Klondyke’ mansion at the northeastern end of Montford Avenue.  West of Klondyke, Col. Coxe offered 112 acres for the sale of residential lots.

In 1921, 321 Pearson was sold as the first house in the new area.  The house was primarily used as a rental until 1949, when it was purchased by Isabel Rankin for her daughter and son-in-law, ‘Jack’ and George Benning.  George was an administrator at Highland Hospital.  His sister, Anne Tillinghast, was a nurse at Highland, and reportedly was the person who identified the body of Zelda Fitzgerald following the devastating fire at the hospital in 1948.  The Bennings lived in the house for a total of 49 years.

Carolyn and Wayne Toal purchased 321 Pearson in 2012.  Major renovations were completed over several years, including doubling the size of the kitchen by extending it into what had been a sleeping porch.  To create a more open feel, walls were removed between the kitchen and the dining room, and on both sides of the fireplace in the living room.  French doors and floors are original.

A number of smaller rooms were combined to create a new master suite, with bedroom, sitting room, laundry and bath.  The bath retains the original medicine cabinet and beadboard wall.  The Toals also added a screened porch and a deck.  This indoor/outdoor area includes all the amenities, including a flatscreen television.  The back and side yards include new landscaping, a water feature and fun additions like a 1940’s era ferris wheel seat.