"[2] Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was the first mansion built in Asheville and is the oldest surviving brick structure in Buncombe County.

[3][2] Daniel Smith originally purchased the 300 acres of land at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers in 1796 from another veteran, William Steward, for $100.

[2][7] Smith's choice of brick for his farmhouse was a show of wealth as this building material was atypical for antebellum western North Carolina.

[6] His sister, Sarah Lucinda, and her husband, Confederate Major William Wallace McDowell, bought the house and 350 acres (140 ha) for $10,000.

[2][3] Years of neglect, followed by the school's closing, had ravaged the structure that was part of land acquisition by Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 1961.

In 2020, WNCHA purchased the house and the small parcel of surrounding land from the community college and began work on a new interpretive plan and interior restorations closer to the mansion's 1840s appearance.

The three-story Smith-McDowell House is a blend of architectural styles dating from its original 1840 construction and the additions completed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[3] It is a double-pile plan, Flemish bond, five-bay mansion that features a double-tier porch that is semi-engaged beneath an extension of its gable roof.

[3] Today, Smith-McDowell House is owned and operated by the Western North Carolina Historical Association as the nonprofit Asheville Museum of History.

[16] The museum explores the history of the 23-county western North Carolina region through permanent and changing exhibits, educational programming, and special events.