Entry No. 15 — the Asheville file — filed under: antique-cars
Estes-Winn Antique Car Museum & Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum
Harry Blomberg, Asheville's Cadillac-Pontiac dealer for over fifty years, started parking cars in the old Biltmore Industries weaving shop in 1966; the collection now spans 1913 to 1957 and includes a rare '57 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, a '59 Edsel Corsair, Model Ts, and Asheville's own 1922 American LaFrance fire truck. Next door, the one-room Homespun Museum tells the stranger story of the building itself: Edith Vanderbilt's craft enterprise, whose forty-plus looms made this hillside a national source of handwoven wool — fan letters from Helen Keller (1945) and a young Richard Nixon (1957) are part of the display. Both are free with a suggested $5 donation, and sit in Grovewood Village a short walk behind the Omni Grove Park Inn, whose guests almost uniformly have no idea they exist.
→ Three more unusual museums & collections in Asheville — never the same twice
The story
The building went up in 1923 as a weaving shop. Biltmore Industries started in Biltmore Village with George and Edith Vanderbilt's backing; in 1917 Edith sold it to Fred Loring Seely, the man behind the Grove Park Inn, who moved the operation onto the hillside behind his hotel and between 1917 and 1923 put up six English-style cottages to hold it. At its peak 40-plus looms ran here, turning out handwoven wool for Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Helen Keller and a succession of presidents and first ladies. The one-room Homespun Museum next door keeps a four-harness loom, weaving samples and the fan mail, Keller's letter of June 10, 1945 and Richard Nixon's of June 8, 1957 included.
Harry Blomberg (1904–1991) acquired the place sideways. An Asheville native who opened one of the city's first filling stations in 1923 at nineteen and took the Western North Carolina Cadillac-LaSalle franchise in 1937, he turned up in 1953 to buy an antique moonshine still and left twenty minutes later having bought the whole company. The still is on the museum floor. Weaving continued under him until 1981, his family has held the property ever since, and his daughters opened Grovewood Gallery in the adjoining cottages in 1992.
He dedicated the car museum on June 20, 1966, naming it for Cathryn Estes, first wife of GM president E.M. Estes, and Barbara Winn, a Pontiac executive's granddaughter who died at fifteen. Nineteen vehicles are on the roster — 1913 Model T to 1959 Edsel Corsair, by way of a 1922 American LaFrance fire engine, a 1927 LaSalle Phaeton and a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham — though the Model T is currently on display over at the Grove Park Inn. Two Karl Kipp Roycroft chandeliers of about 1918 hang above it all, brought from Seely's stone castle, Overlook.
What it's like
Grovewood Road runs behind the Omni Grove Park Inn and ends in the village. Park in one of the two free on-site lots — not the hotel garage, which isn't theirs — and walk in past a docent who points you at the donation box, $5 suggested and nothing enforced. The cars stand on the old weaving floor close enough to read their dashboards, and it is worth looking up: the mottos Seely had inscribed on the beams for his weavers are still there. Twenty minutes covers the cars, ten more the Homespun room next door, longer if the docent gets going on Blomberg. Two steps at the entrance, and they will bring out a portable ramp if you ask. Leashed dogs are welcome; tripods are not.
The move: Slip in around 3:30 on a weekday: twenty minutes with the fire engine and the Eldorado Brougham, then the Homespun Museum to read Helen Keller's letter, then walk over to the Grove Park Inn for a drink on the terrace right as the light over downtown gets good.
📍 Before you go Open daily 10-5, April through December; both museums close January-March (the adjacent Grovewood Gallery stays open year-round). Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas. Free admission with a $5 suggested donation; free parking in two on-site lots — don't use the hotel garage. Two steps at the car museum entrance; a portable ramp is available, but the lower level isn't wheelchair accessible.
- 📍 Asheville
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 111 Grovewood Rd, Asheville, NC 28804
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Lookout Observatory at UNC Asheville — About a mile west on the UNC Asheville campus, and the timing lines up: the museums shut at 5, and a pre-registered observatory night starts around 8:30, turning an afternoon of 1920s machinery into an evening of telescopes.
- Asheville Pagan Supply — Barely half a mile down the hill at 640 Merrimon Ave and open until 8 on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays — swerving from Eisenhower-era Cadillacs to a raven-and-key occult shop is the whole appeal.
More weird in Asheville
Good to know
What does it cost and do I need a ticket?
Both museums are free with a $5 suggested donation, and there is nothing to book — you walk in. If you want the deeper version, private group history tours start at $200 for up to 30 guests and include the century-old Dye House with its original dye vats, carding machines and spinning mule, which is otherwise closed to the public.
Where do I park, and how far is it from downtown?
111 Grovewood Rd, with two free on-site lots — one by the car museum, one behind the restaurant. Grovewood Village is not part of the Omni Grove Park Inn, so don't use the hotel garage. It is 2.8 miles from downtown Asheville, about ten minutes, and five miles from the Biltmore Estate.
Are they open year-round?
No. Both museums run April through December, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and close entirely from January through March, plus Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Grovewood Gallery stays open through the winter, so an off-season trip still has something in it.
How accessible is it?
The property is on the National Register and largely unaltered, which cuts both ways: there are two steps at each museum entrance, but a docent will bring out a portable wheelchair ramp. The lower level of the car museum is not wheelchair accessible. One accessible parking space sits in the lot beside the museum, and drop-off at the main entrance is allowed.
Can I bring a dog, and can I take photos?
Leashed, well-behaved dogs are welcome across Grovewood Village. Non-commercial photography of the buildings, grounds and artwork is encouraged, but tripods are not permitted, and portrait, bridal or other event shoots need permission arranged in advance.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: grovewood.com
last checked: 2026-08-25