Our Asheville Bed and Breakfast Inn - History

The Lion & The Rose circa 1900

The house, a Queen Anne neo-Classical, was built in 1896 by Elmer and Charity Rusk Craig who moved to Asheville from Wisconsin in an effort to revive Mr. Craig’s failing health. Mrs. Craig was at one time the National President of the Women’s Relief Corps, a charitable organization. In 1913, the Toms family purchased the house, thus the name Craig-Toms House. This is one of the few larger homes in the Historic District that has always been owned by single families.

 

 

In Look Homeward Angel, a fictional account of Asheville written by Thomas Wolfe, the character named Tommy French was based on a contemporary of Wolfe named Charles French Toms, who lived in the house and was the son of the second owners. Charles’ daughter and granddaughter have stayed at the inn and have shared interesting anecdotes and photographs of the family and the house.