The Self-Help Building, formerly known as the Public Services Building, is a notable yet often overlooked structure in Asheville, located at 89-93 Patton Avenue. Built during the 1920s boom, it exemplifies Neo-Spanish architecture with mythological decorations on its first two floors and ram grotesques above.

Designed by Beacham and LeGrand, a Greenville, South Carolina firm, the building was completed in 1929 for Carolina Power and Light. It won an American Institute of Architects Honor Award that year. The firm also designed other notable buildings in Asheville and Greenville.

Luther Launcelot Merchant, the builder, was responsible for many significant early 20th-century buildings in Asheville. His company, Merchant Construction Co., built several landmark structures and homes in the area.The building’s location at the top of Coxe Avenue provides a commanding view, similar to other impressively situated structures in Asheville that contribute to the city’s comparison to an Italian hill town.

The Public Service Building, stands as a dazzling architectural style, situated between Wall St. and Patton Avenue. This terra-cotta tower evokes fantastical Romanesque and Moroccan motifs. Ornate details abound from the gem-like lower stories to the dreamy upper reaches, including a second-story frieze depicting Leda and the Swan. Narrowly escaping demolition, this fabulous Jazz Age skyscraper transports passersby to imaginative heights with its breathtaking embellishments. Eight decades later, the Public Service Building remains a symbol of Art Deco extravagance in downtown Asheville.