While many homeowners seek to update and renovate their homes to fit a more modern style, some instead wish to maintain a home’s historical charm.
For lovers of historic restoration and all things original, historical home tours highlight what homeowners have done to preserve their historic dwellings. In the Tri-Village area, both the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Tour of Homes and Upper Arlington Homes of History Tour offer the opportunity to do just that.
The Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Tour of Homes takes place once every three years to showcase the historic homes in the area. The event returns this year on Oct. 2.
The tour will feature six homes that display historically significant architecture from the early to mid-20th century and aim to preserve the historical importance of the Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff area.
Many of the homes have been renovated, says Historical Society Vice President Karen Riggs, but the owners intentionally work to preserve the historical characteristics, retaining that quality even with the modern alterations.
“One of the homes (the tour will) have on display, during the renovation, they found a letter that was written by a previous homeowner’s son,” Riggs says. “The same homeowner found a bomb shelter sign that was in the basement, and they’re going to have that on display.”
Through maintaining both the architectural design and including key finds from the original owners, Riggs says the homes offer a nuanced look at the history of the homes and, by extension, the Tri-Village community.
“It’s interesting that even with the ones that have a very modern interior look, they still very much tried to retain elements of the history of the home or the previous owners,” Riggs says.
In Upper Arlington, the Homes of History tour offers a month-long chance to view the historic homes, focusing on the exteriors. The event first occurred in 2021 and returned in August to showcase homes that were built at least 100 years ago.
Kristin Greenberg, executive director of the Upper Arlington Historical Society, says the event aims to bolster appreciation for the quality of the historic district.
“What we’re trying to do with this is create a positive, affirmative approach to recognizing those homeowners who live in these historic homes that are 100 years or older, and maintain them and keep that original architectural character,” Greenberg says. “We wanted a program to celebrate that.”
In addition to being at least a century old, each home is required to keep the exterior close to its original condition. The homes then receive a gold yard sign to signify it as a stop along the tour. The signs make it easy to spot the historic homes.
Within the historic district, Greenberg says there are several appealing architectural designs.
“Our historic district was named a historic district because there’s such a fine collection of revival stuff,” Greenberg says. “We’re talking Georgian revival, American colonial revival, Italian revival, Dutch colonial revival style. And they all have their unique features.”
Along the tour, guests can observe signature characteristics of the styles such as the symmetrical design of Georgian revival, side-gabled roofs of American colonial, the low-pitched roofs of Italian revival and the curved eaves of Dutch colonial revival.
Find more information on the Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Tour of Homes at www.ghmchs.org.
Lauren Serge is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
