The Landina Guest House

The Landina Guest House was listed in the Green Book from 1960-1961. It was owned by Hollis T. and Ozzie M. Landrum. The Landina Guest House was listed in the Green Book as “The Landina Guest House----710--1st Ave., West, Rooms with Private Bath---Meals that Satisfy, Hollis T. and Ozzie M. Landrum, Props---Phone, OK 3-4429.”¹
    
The Landina Guest House, located in the Peacock Town neighborhood in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was operated by Hollis T. and Ozzie M. Landrum for 30 years. Hollis and Ozzie were both born in South Carolina. The couple resided in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, until the mid-1940s, when they moved to Hendersonville.²

Upon moving to Hendersonville, the Landrums resided at 725 1st Avenue West. The Landrums moved to 710 1st Avenue West by 1950 and completed The Landina Guest House in 1955. The Landina was specifically built to accommodate African American travelers and advertised “rooms with private bath” and “meals that satisfy.” The motel-style accommodations included seven rooms for guests and an apartment.³ 

Locally, Ozzie Landrum was revered as a “spectacular cook.” Locals from Hendersonville, Asheville, and the surrounding area dined at The Landina for holiday meals and after-church Sunday night dinners. Asheville resident Viola Spells recalls her family enjoying “rolls and biscuits that melt in your mouth” at meals prepared by Mrs. Landrum for Mother’s Day and Easter. Mrs. Landrum cooked breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, serving traditional breakfast items (such as bacon and eggs, sausage and pancakes, grits, and cereal) and meat and vegetable plate dinners (options included but were not limited to smothered, fried, or baked chicken, roast beef, baked ham, candied yams, green string beans, collards, and harvard beets with orange sauce). The Landina also offered a menu of short order items.⁴

Ozzie M. Landrum passed away in 1980. Her death announcement noted that she was the operator of the Landina Guest House. Hollis T. Landum moved to Chesnee, South Carolina, and passed away in 1990. Today, the current owners have renovated 710 1st Avenue West into rental units.⁵ 

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2019

Notes

1. Alma D. Green, 1960 Green Book, 73; Green, 1961 Green Book, 69.
2. Terry Ruscin, “Beyond the Banks: Doing it by the Green Book,” Blue Ridge Now: Times-News Online, July 14, 2019, accessed from https://www.blueridgenow.com/news/20190714/beyond-banks-doing-it-by-gre…;
3. 1940 United States Census, Campobello, Spartanburg County, SC, digital images s.v. "Hollis T. Landrum,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Miller’s Hendersonville, N.C. City Directory, 1945-1946 (Hendersonville, NC: Southern Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 172. 
4. Miller’s Hendersonville, N.C. City Directory, 1950 - 1951 (Hendersonville, NC: Southern Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 192; Miller’s Hendersonville, N.C. City Directory, 1958-1959 (Hendersonville, NC: Southern Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 210; Property Card for 710 1st Ave W (parcel number 107866), Henderson County Office of the Assessor, accessed from http://taxinfo.hendersoncountync.gov/; Ruscin, “Beyond the Banks.”
5. Miller’s Hendersonville, N.C. City Directory, 1950 - 1951 (Hendersonville, NC: Southern Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 192; Miller’s Hendersonville, N.C. City Directory, 1958-1959 (Hendersonville, NC: Southern Directory Company), alphabetical listing, p. 210; Property Card for 710 1st Ave W (parcel number 107866), Henderson County Office of the Assessor, accessed from http://taxinfo.hendersoncountync.gov/; Lisa Withers, interview with Viola Spells, NC African American Heritage Commission files; Terry Ruscin, “Beyond the Banks.”
6. “Ozzie Landrum” [death announcement], Asheville Citizen-Times, December 22, 1980, p. 11, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Funerals Today,” Asheville Citizen-Times, May 5, 1990, p. 14, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Ruscin, “Beyond the Banks.”

Did you know?

• This Green Book entry was listed as “The Landina Guest House----710--1st Ave., West, Rooms with Private Bath---Meals that Satisfy, Hollis T. and Ozzie M. Landrum, Props---Phone, OK 3-4429” on three lines in bolder and bigger font.