2006 Spring Tour of Homes will be held on March 31, and April 1 and 2.

2006 Tour of Homes will feature 10 homes; weekend events begin with soiree March 31

Southern Elegance – 115 West Robert Toombs Avenue
The 2006 Spring Tour of Homes of Washington-Wilkes will be held on March 31, and April 1 and 2. The Candlelight Tour will get underway on Friday, March 31, at 6 p.m., and continue until 9 p.m. The Candlelight Tour will also be held on Saturday evening, April 1, during the same hours.

A Dessert Soiree will be available to those on the tour and others at Holly Court Inn, home of Phillip and Margaret Rothman, 301 South Alexander Avenue, on Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Day Tour will begin Saturday, April 1, at 10 a.m. and will conclude at 5 p.m. The day tour will also be available on Sunday, April 2, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Tour headquarters will be at the Washington-Wilkes Elementary School on East Street, just off East Robert Toombs Avenue.

DAY TOUR

There will be five homes on the Day Tour. These five homes are:

The home of Jerry and Kay Robinson, 104 Pembroke Drive;

Southern Elegance, Jean Davis Blair, 115 West Robert Toombs Avenue.

Lafayette Manor Inn, (former Maynard’s Manor), East Robert Toombs Avenue, home of Guillaume Slama and Sokunvathany Nuon-Slama.

Deborah Rainey’s Downtown Loft; and

Wisteria Hall, home of Jim and Jane Bundy, 225 East Robert Toombs Avenue.

CANDLELIGHT TOUR

The Candlelight Tour will feature four homes and Holly Court Inn where the Dessert Soiree will be held. These are:

The home of John and Kathleen Overstreet, 401 East Robert Toombs Avenue;

The Rider House, Smythe and Jane Newsome, 109 Court Street;

Washington Plantation, Tom and Barbara Chase, Lexington Avenue;

Holly Court Inn, Dessert Soiree, South Alexander Avenue; and

The Home of Ricky and Kathy Lindsey, South Alexander Avenue.

OTHER

ATTRACTIONS

The Washington Little Theater Co.’s presentation will be “1940s Radio Hour,” and will be presented Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Cost is $10.

The Washington Woman’s Club Luncheon will be available by reservation only at noon on Saturday, at a cost of $10 each. This is a seated luncheon with a home-cooked meal served in the exquisitely decorated historic Woman’s Club. The First United Methodist Church will also provide lunch for $10.

Admission to the Robert Toombs House, Washington Historical Museum and Callaway Plantation will be free with the purchase of any ticket package. Cost to non-ticket holders is the regular price at the door.

Other attractions on the tour which are free include the Episcopal Church of the Mediator, Washington Presbyterian Church, First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, the Mary Willis Library, and an Arts and Crafts Show at the Livery Stable coordinated by Debbie Wells.

Tourists and local people are invited to visit the many shops and attractions in Downtown Washington.

COSTS Ticket prices are $25.00 for the day or candlelight tour; $45.00 for both Day and Candlelight tours; $5.00 at the door of any single home; and $10.00 for the Dessert Soiree.

TICKETS

Ticket and reservation information are available by calling 706678-2013. More information and a form to order tickets are available at www.wwtourofhomes.com.

HOMES FEATURED

Each week until the tour days, The News-Reporter will feature one of the homes on the tour.

Southern Elegance

Home of Jeanne Davis Blair

115 W. Robert Toombs Ave.

This Free-Classics Queen Anne style house with elements of Craftsman high style was built sometime before 1919 by local lumberman George F. Strother.

The house is distinguished by painted rounded columns on granite piers and has a fan decoration and double ell porch. The one-and-ahalf story house has a pressed metal tin silver roof.

When Mr. Strother built the house, he had bought the property from Garnett Green, but in January 1920 it was signed over to Mrs. Susie W. (T.J.) Wills who served on the first Wilkes County Board of Health. As president of the Washington Woman’s Club she led the women in successfully working for accreditation of the local school.

In 1934 she sold the property to her daughter, Penelope Wills, and in 1958 Miss Wills sold the house and lot to Austin H. Barnett whose family lived in the house for 30 years before it was purchased by Alice and Bill Green.

The late Victorian home has a columned porch and five coal burning fireplaces. A butler’s pantry connects the dining room and kitchen. Mr. Green added a spa room off the bedroom. The added room has column details and windows matching the original house. He also built a fruit cellar and a back porch which enhances the rear of the house.

The house is currently owned by Jeanne Davis Blair who purchased it in June 2004. She has converted the house to an elaborate bed and breakfast facility known as Southern Elegance.
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