| Huntsville's Historic Homes Tour 2002 | |
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Part 1: The Huntsville Pilgrimage Association | |
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One of the most exciting events in Huntsville is the annual Historic Homes Tour and the Cemetery Stroll sponsored by the Huntsville Pilgrimage Association the first weekend in May of every year. This is your chance to get an inside look at some of the magnificent homes in Huntsville.
Twickenham, Old Town and Five Points are the three historic districts that are celebrated during the Homes Tour featuring distinctive architectures from antebellum to Victorian to early 20th century bungalow.
The 2002 Pilgrimage will feature eight Italianate, Federalist, Neoclassical, Victorian, Gothic Revival, and Craftsman-style bungalow homes and buildings. Donations are appreciated and go towards maintenance and restoration of Maple Hill Cemetery's grave markers, monuments and landscape.
The Halsey Home located at 308 Eustis Avenue will be open to the public this year. The Victorian home was build in 1899 for Will and Laura Halsey. It displays Eastlake overtones in its unusually fine detailing and workmanship--elements touted by British furniture designer and arbiter of taste Charles Eastlake. This home has been passed among successive generations of Halseys, who for more than a century have preserved and maintained its original character.
The Goldsmith-Van Valkenburgh Building is located at 204 Gates Avenue. In 1883, Morris and Henrietta Bernstein built this wonderful "High-Victorian" Italianate house for their daughter Betty and her husband Oscar Goldsmith. The Goldsmiths lived in the home for 54 years.
The design is evident in the hip-roof with central gable, slender tall windows with decorated crowns, pillared porches with sawn millwork blusters, and pairs of brackets that support the wide eaves.
In 1988, the home was given a new roof, wiring, and central heat and air-conditioning without altering or disturbing its architectural integrity. In 2000, the Van Valkenburghs purchased the home for their real estate business.
The Sanford-Weston bungalow at 209 Dallas Street was built in 1916 by Dora Sanford. It was home to a succession of maiden schoolteachers until the 1980's. Originally only four rooms, the house was extensively renovated and enlarged by incorporating the spacious attic with its large center gable. A wide staircase leads up to a luxurious master bedroom and sitting area tucked under the eaves. Current owner, Nancy Weston, uses exuberant color and flowers throughout the house and into a picturesque walled garden, where birdhouses perch on fence posts.
The Hunt-Brock home is located at 515 Randolph Avenue. With its sawn wood gingerbread detailing, "Fairview" typifies Carpenter Gothic architecture. George Hunt, grandson of Huntsville's founder, John Hunt, built the house in 1885. Originally Gothic Revival dictated stone or brick construction. But in North America, easy access to wood and the invention of the scroll saw led to enchanting innovations.
Nothing could be more enchanting than the recent transformation given the house by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Brock when they purchased "Fairview" in the late 1990's. A clever plan to gain living and entertaining space incorporates three backyards and unties two adjacent cottage on parallel Clinton Avenue with the main home. This was accomplished without altering the exterior of the structures and by visually linking them via paint color and landscaping.
The Brocks restored and redecorated the main home's original spaces, while adding a kitchen, family room, and wide porch onto the back.
The Terry-Turner home is located in the Five Points district, Huntsville's first subdivision, at 813 Pratt Avenue. T. T. Terry, a dry goods merchant on the Southside Square, built this craftsman-style bungalow. Mr. Terry was well-known around Huntsville because his store was a popular downtown fixture.
He coined the phrase, "Great is the Power of Cash" that was painted in large letters on the brick in front of the store.
Typical of most bungalows, a welcoming porch runs the length of the house with four heavy square columns. The home has been sensitively restored by the Turners and retains its original heart pine floors and four fireplaces.
The McDaniel-Lowry home is an old Italianate style house located at 410 Randolph Avenue. It was built in 1869 by Cornelias McDaniel. It was sold two years later to Fannie Ridley, a widow who occupied the house until 1921. During Mrs. Ridley's occupation of the home, she enclosed the back porches, removed a bay window from the living room and took out a fireplace from the west side of the house.
In 1921, a fire damaged the home and the owners imposed features of the bungalow style which was then in fashion. Dr. and Mrs. Richard Brown purchased the house in 1973 and immediately began to restore the house to its original state.
The current owners are Mr. and Mrs. Sam Lowry who purchased the house in 1999. They filled it with antiques and collectibles from their travels. The detached guest quarters overlook the pool and meticulously replanted garden.
The I. Schiffman Building, located at 231 East Side Square, is famous for being the birthplace of Tallulah Bankhead. It is the remaining south bay of a three-bay Federal style structure. The other two bays were demolished during ruban renewal. The surviving south bay was stylistically transformed in 1895 by the Southern Savings and Loan Association and is one of the few remaining commercial example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Alabama.
In 1903, actress Tallulah Bankhead was born in the second floor apartment during the time when here father William Bankhead was a lawyer in Huntsville.
Isaac Schiffman purchased the property in 1905 and his family businesses have continued there ever since. The current owner is Mr. Schiffman's great granddaughter, Margaret Anne Goldsmith, who renovated th e building in 1998 and was awarded an Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Huntsville Foundation.
One of the most beautiful churches in Huntsville is the Church of the Navitiy located on the coner of Eustis and Green Streets. It was built in 1859 and is an outstanding example of Gothic Revival architecture and is still in its original condition.
The building contains a nave with aisles, chancel, vestry and organ chamber, and a monumental entrace tower at the northeast corner. The height of the town and spire is 151 feet. The bell in the brick bell tower is about 18 feet square and an inscription indicates it was made in Sheffield, England in 1865. The originial bell was removed during the Civil War and used to make a cannon.
In addition to the above homes and buildings, the Historic Homes tour includes the Garden at Poplar Grove located at 403 Echols Avenue, the former home of Leroy Pope. The current owners, Mr. and Mrs. Danny Wiginton, have beautifully restored the formal garden with azaleas, roses, herbs, and old-fashioned perennials. A whimisical bronze "dancing turtles" fountain created exclusively for the garden by renowned Alabama artist, Frank Fleming, overlooks the stone terrace. The formal gardens were designed by Bill Nance, a local artist, teacher and garden designer.
Tickets for the Historic Homes Tour are $20 per person the day of the tour, $17 for advance purchase and $15 for groups of 20 or more. Tickets are available at the following locations: Harrison Brothers Hardware, Parisian Stores, Weeden House Museum, Lawren's, Brooks & Collier, High Grove Garden Furnishings, Topiary Tree, Magnolia Gift Shop, The Greenery (Big Cove), and Harles Antique Mall in Madison. For additional information, check the Huntsville Pilgrimage Associations website.contact the Huntsville Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-SPACE 4U or 256-551-2230.
