Spring Tour of Homes has new schedule; Dowling home in Danburg will be featured

The Dowling home in Danburg will be one of the homes featured on the 2007 Spring Tour of Homes sponsored by the Washington Kiwanis Club and the Washington Womans Club.The Washington-Wilkes Spring Tour of Homes 2007 will have a different schedule this year from years past.
Both the Day Tour and the Candlelight Tour will be held on Saturday. There will be no tours on Friday or Sunday.
The tours will be held on Saturday, March 31, with the Day Tour hours being 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; and the Candlelight Tour, 6-9 p.m.
Five of the six scheduled homes for the Day Tour have been confirmed and one is still pending.
Already scheduled are the homes of Dawn and Sam Moore on the Tignall Road; Vinnie and Rod Dowling (Anderson home) at Danburg; Virginia Lee King and Skeet Willingham on West Robert Toombs Avenue, Washington; Vivian and Roger Walker (Holly Ridge), Sandtown; and Carole and Walter Currie (Sutton home) at Danburg.
There will be four homes on the Candlelight Tour. The home of Allan and Sharlene Zima at 206 South Alexander Avenue, Washington (across the street from Laura and Dave Toiburen), is the only one already confirmed. The Zimas are newcomers to Washington-Wilkes and the house is a newcomer to the tour circuit.
Headquarters for the tour will be at the Washington-Wilkes Elementary School on East Street.
The Kiwanis Club will be driving courtesy cars to provide transportation to the various locations.
There is no Dessert Soiree this year. Shops on The Square will be open on Friday evening, March 30, to provide a "Taste of Washington."
The always-popular Woman's Club Seated Luncheon will be available for $10 each with reservations required. The First United Methodist Church will be open for buffet lunch.
The Washington Little Theater Company will be presenting the musical "Gypsy" on Friday and Saturday nights, March 30 and 31, at 8 p.m.; and again on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Debbie McLeod will be the star of the musical which is directed by Sue Davidson. Musical direction will be by Mrs. McLeod, and Cynthia Aultman will be doing the choreography. Reservations are recommended for the performances and may be made by calling 706- 678-9582.
Churches, museums, and historical sites will be open on Friday and Saturday, and also on Sunday. Downtown shops will be open on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Any tour home may be visited individually by paying $5 at the door.
Cost for the Day Tour (six homes) is $25; Candlelight Tour (four homes), $25; Day and Candlelight package, $45; and the Woman's Club Luncheon, $10. Theater tickets are $10 each; members may use their cards.
Tickets may be ordered by sending checks to Spring Tour of Homes, P.O. Box 661, Washington, GA 30673. Tickets will be mailed upon receipt of payment.
More information can be obtained by calling the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce at 706-678- 2013.
The News-Reporter will feature one of the houses on the Tour each week until Tour Day. Featured this week is the home of Vinnie and Rod Dowling at Danburg.
THE DOWLING HOME
Danburg
The home of Vinnie and Roderick Dowling at Danburg is known locally as the Anderson House, owned for many years by the John Anderson family, prominent landowners in the area for many years.
The Greek Revival home probably incorporates an earlier structure built in the 1790s and may have been built by Dr. W.D. Quinn and remodeled before the Civil War.
There were buildings on the site of the home in the late 1790s and early 1800s. The structure underneath the right side of the house is hand-hewn, mortise and tenon, and pegged construction while the living room and bedroom on the left are made with material cut by a circular saw. This probably indicates that an early two-over-two house was added with a hall and a similar arrangement of rooms on the other side after the Civil War.
John Anderson, the owner at that time, built the house as it is now. The columns, made in Savannah, and the mirrors and cornices made in England for the house, were floated up the Savannah River from the port. The stairwell was put in and fine furniture and imported curtains were ordered from Chicago and New York.
From early photographs furnished by members of the Anderson family, it can be determined that the house was once painted gray and that all outside windows and doors under cover were stippled to look like fine woods. The back and front doors were painted to look like burl walnut.
The 24-35 foot banquet dining room of brick with slate roof, and the old stone kitchen were destroyed many years ago. They were separate buildings across the open breezeway from the back hall.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Simms, who owned the house in the late 1970s and 1980s, built a welcoming porch and entry of lattice-work in keeping with the early Victorian aspects of the house.
An upstairs balustraded gallery which once ran across the back of the house is missing and a bathroom is approached by the double back doors.
There are four upstairs bedrooms. The third floor has one finished room at the top of the stairs. The roof supports are skinned trees laid on pegged hand-hewn supports and covered with shakes. A tin roof was also added.
The somewhat narrow front porch was squeezed in between the house and the very fine old holly trees. Fountains and concrete posts were added to the property in the early 1920 when the house had one of he first rural electric systems in Wilkes County. The lawns boasted a greenhouse, formal gardens, brick walkways, and a gazebo.
The addition of brackets and lattice work to the entablature of the house portico is evidence of the increasing influence of the Victorian on the Greek Revival just after the Civil War.