Franklin Heritage brings back home tour for first time since 2018

In every Victorian gable, Queen Anne bay window and Italianate bracket, the echoes of Franklin’s past meet the present day.

Candy-colored posts accent curly-cue gingerbread trim. Turrets and balconies with wrought-iron metalwork speak to a bygone era. Exposed wooden beams, swirled glass and original flooring have been painstakingly cared for to stand the test of time.

Most people have only admired Franklin’s historic buildings from the exterior. But next weekend, they’ll have a chance to see every glorious detail up close.

“We want to show people that it’s possible to restore your house and make it livable. Often times the perception is that old is no good. We want to show people that you can do it, you can restore it and you can live in it,” said Glenn Faris, preservation coordinator for Franklin Heritage, a local nonprofit preservation group. “Our goal is to inspire you and to give you ideas.”

Franklin Heritage has once again planned its Historic Home Tour, which returns on Sept. 21 and 22 to showcase the best of the city’s architectural jewels. Twelve homes and other buildings are included in the tour, offering people the chance to see historic conservation in action.

Returning for the first time since 2018, the event is an opportunity to see some of the most unique, restored and well-preserved historic structures up close.

“We can show people all of the possibilities of what can be done with a space they’re unsure of, and if it’s worth putting in the time and the effort and the sweat equity and the funding into working on your home,” said Dave Windisch, marketing director for Franklin Heritage.

The tour has been an educational tool of Franklin Heritage for nearly 40 years, a continuation of an older event that had been founded by the Johnson County Historic Society.

On the first tour, participants could explore the county courthouse as well as nine other homes. Organizers decided to hold the event every two years, offering an opportunity to honor the city’s architectural history while letting people see how conversation and preservation are unfolding in real-time.

“The thing about some of the repeat homes is, people are always working on them. That’s what I like about going into the same house every couple of years,” Windisch said. “I love watching them progress.”

But a quirk of planning — as well as a historic pandemic — prevented the tour from being held for the past six years. Officials had scheduled the tour for the fall of 2020, but the pandemic COVID-19 made bringing large groups of people into individual homes a bad idea.

With the pandemic ongoing in 2021, Franklin Heritage instead planned a garden tour, and prepared to bring back the home tour at a later time.

“It got to the point where we thought, now’s the time to get the home tour going again,” Windisch said.

This year’s slate of homes is a blend of past participants and new houses to investigate.

One of the mainstays of the tour has been the home of Amy and Doug Heavilin, located at 14 Martin Place. Known formerly as the Murray-Bryant House, the 1902-built structure was featured in the original home tour. The Heavilins have spent the past 12 years restoring the grand structure room by room.

They fixed the slate roof and repainted the home’s gray-blue, red, purple and gold. The house’s stunning wrap-around porch required making recreations of the original posts and repairing the wooden ceiling. Inside, the kitchen, library, grand staircase and more have all been restored.

The Heavilins enjoy being part of the tour to let people know that tackling a restoration doesn’t have to happen all at once.

“Since our house is a work in progress, we love that people can be able to see the changes that we’ve made year to year,” Amy Heavilin said in an email. “I think it shows a different model for restoration, which is that you can go slow and steady and still make progress on these homes. We definitely are on the slow track!”

“(The Heavilins) work on a room or two every year, so it’s been a couple years since she’s been on the tour and a lot of projects have been in the works. It’s a great example of a house that will wow you, but is still being worked on,” Faris said.

Among new entries this year, no house has a better story than the one belonging to Julie Wells. The Victorian home built around the turn of the 20th century had stood on Wayne Street in Franklin for more than 100 years. But the construction of the Newkirk Square development was going to mean it had to be torn down.

Instead, Franklin Heritage worked to find a solution with a host of collaborators, including the office of Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett, city street department, Franklin Community Development Department, Franklin Board of Public Works, the Franklin Development Corporation, The Bemis Group, Duke Energy, and other utility companies.

In the early morning hours of June 22, 2021, the structure was slowly moved from Wayne Street to East Madison Street, where it currently stands.

“All of the work Rob (Shilts, Franklin Heritage executive director) and the city put into saving that home will really showcase our mission of preserving these homes for people to see and not lose that little bit of history,”Windisch said. “It’s just in a different part of town.”

Another home included in this year’s tour is technically a repeat, though anyone who came through it during the 2018 event will hardly recognize it. The 1890s Queen Anne belonging to Dani Waller and Dave Camm at 250 N. Water St. had originally been acquired by Franklin Heritage to refurbish and clean up back in the mid-2010s.

When it was included on the tour six years ago, it was a chance for the organization to showcase what limited work they had done, as well as the potential that existed if someone wanted to buy it. Since then, Waller and Camm have completely redone it.

“It’s immaculate. Again, it’s part of our mission — showing what we did with it, and getting it in the hands of the right people to finish the job. And they did a fantastic job,” Windisch said.

The Historic Artcraft Theatre, which Franklin Heritage operates, will be open for people who want to poke around some of the nooks and crannies of the 102-year-old theater. Attendees can stop by Madison Street Salvage to see an emporium for salvaged architectural items in addition to meeting with conservationists and contractors to talk about project questions.

At the home of Wild Geese Bookshop, visitors will be able to see not only the quaint bookseller but what a historic former hotel used to look like.

“People can see all of the woodwork that was done, to see what it used to look like when it was a hotel,” Windisch said. “We can explain all of the changes that have happened to it.”

While the Historic Home Tour serves as a fundraiser and showcase for the preservation work Franklin Heritage does, it’s also a way to spotlight all of downtown Franklin as well. The self-guided walking tour lets people move from home to home at their own speed over two days, then check out the other attractions the city has to offer afterwards.

“It normally brings in 1,000+ people to the community. The shops are open, the restaurants are serving food. People are learning about Franklin, they’re seeing the good things we have here,” Windisch said. “They’re learning about what a community that comes together can do when they’re all focused on doing something good.”

Tickets to the event are $20, and are good both for Sept. 21 and 22. The event is rain-or-shine, Windisch said.

IF YOU GO

Franklin Historic Home Tour

What: A fundraiser for preservation group Franklin Heritage and showcase taking a look at Franklin’s rich architectural history and its current growth in businesses and homes

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 21, 1-5 p.m. Sept. 22

What to know: The walking tour invites people to visit fully restored homes and follow along on the journey with homeowners currently restoring their homes. Walking to each location is less than two miles total when departing/returning from the Historic Artcraft Theatre, 57 N. Main St., Franklin. This event is rain or shine.

Participating homes:

• 200 N. Home Ave., Mike and Amy Jones
• 100 N. Water St., Don and Linda Haddock
• 14 Martin Place, Doug and Amy Heavilin
• 551 W. Madison St., Mike and Carol Dale
• 250 E. Madison St., Julie Wells
• 601 N. Main St., Christina Harney
• 250 N. Water St., Dani Waller and Dave Camm
• 668 Graham St., Will and Regina Harvey
• 57 N. Main St., the Historic Artcraft Theatre
• 49 E. Madison St., The Artcraft Cottage
• 48 E. Madison St., Wild Geese Bookshop
• 350 E. Madison St., Madison Street Salvage

Tickets and information: historicartcrafttheatre.org/hometour2024