The Summerville Neighborhood Association Tour of Homes marks its 45th anniversary Saturday and Sunday.
“The reason the 45th Annual Summerville Neighborhood Association Tour of Homes is so special is it is a grand tradition and brings awareness to historical preservation. Also, families come from all over for the tour with grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers and fathers,” said Maggie DeLoach, the association’s board president.
Held from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the tour features nine stops — eight of which are homes. The Summerville Studio will be the only non-residential stop on the tour. Homes on the tour were constructed from the 1880s to the 1930s.
One of the homes on the tour is a repeat. A few years ago, patrons got a sneak peek of its renovations, but now they can see the finished product.
Located at 2628 Henry St., the home was built in 1906 in the Georgian Colonial style.
“My favorite home, however, would have to be the one on Henry Street. It was on the tour in 2020 as a before and after,” said DeLoach. “It is phenomenal. You would never expect something like that would be in Augusta.”
Other homes on the tour include the residence of David and Anna Avrett at 2421 Central Ave.; the Williams’ home on 1227 Highland Ave.; and a Dutch Colonial home, built by the Isaac Thomas Heard family in the early 1900s, at the corner of Meigs and McDowell Streets.
One home that will only be on the tour Saturday is the Kinsey Home at 934 Johns Rd.
One of the Johns Road home’s earliest residents was famed architect Henry Ten Eyck Wendell who moved into the abode in 1911 and “conducted a large and comprehensive renovation of the entire house to suit his style.,” the Facebook event post reads.
Besides placing his “signature mantles” in several rooms, Wendell put in arches, added his “signature five spindles to each tread on the main staircase” and hung decorative paneling in the dining room.
He changed the front of the house by moving the entrance door to the side. He lived in the home until his death in 1917.
The home has undergone many changes in the past century including being turned into apartments before being restored to a single-family dwelling.
While it’s not a stop on the tour, Sheehan’s Irish Pub will be open for patrons on Saturday. Nestled in the heart of the Summerville neighborhood at 2571 Central Ave., the pub will serve lunch starting at 1 p.m. Saturday and will have tickets to the tour. Also, Arsenal Tap Room + Kitchen at 1419 Monte Sano Ave will give tour-goers a free basket of tots with purchase of an adult beverage and when they show their tickets.
Tickets $40 in advance or $50 on the days or the tour and are available at Surrey Center Pharmacy, 483 Highland Ave,. or Summerville Studio, 2611 Central Ave.
There will be a kickoff for the tour at the Trinity on-the-Hill United Methodist Church Parking Lot on 1330 Monte Sano Ave. Friday, Oct. 21 from 5 – 7 p.m. with food trucks and live music by Jaycie Ward. Tickets for the tour will be for sale there as well.
Ron Baxley Jr. is a correspondent for The Augusta Press.
