The Community Preservation Committee is stepping back in time with its Historic Homes Tour. The tours, which take place every other year, have been going on for 15 years, executive director Kathy Walker said.

“The purpose is to showcase historic homes in the area as a fundraiser for the Community Preservation Committee,” she said.

The committee tries to profile a specific area and this time, the area chosen was Hoopes Park and its surrounding neighborhoods. The tours average 300 to 500 people each time, Walker said.

All of the homes on the tour are currently occupied. Homeowners of the seven featured homes were contacted by members of the CPC and asked if they would be willing to participate, Walker said. This year's homes have not been previously showcased.

“I think my favorite part is touring the homes,” Walker said. “We're doing it with the arts council and that will be a fabulous addition.”

Art in the Park, hosted by the Cayuga County Arts Council, will also be featured at this year's event. This is the first time that the CPC has teamed up with the council, said Historic Homes Tour committee member Maxine Alberici.

Paintings, pottery, metal works, photos and fabric created by mostly local artists will be on display. Alberici hopes that Art in the Park will generate a positive response from the community so that the CPC can team up with the arts council every time there is a Historic Homes Tour.

There will also be musical entertainment throughout the day, featuring Jazzitude, Mimi McHale and Second Wind and Paul Saltarello. Author Kevin Rivoli will be at the park with his book “In Search of Norman Rockwell's America.” He will be signing books, which will be available for sale.

“We are hoping that people will come and enjoy the park as well as all of the homes and make it a nice day,” Alberici said. “I'm very excited about the day and I think everything will go well. I hope everybody in Auburn will get out and do something ... and appreciate Auburn and the beauty of the park.”

Alberici has helped organize the tours the past eight to nine times. For her, it's always fun to get in and see people's houses and learn their history, she said.

While there is no specific criteria for the homes chosen for the tours, some of them have a historical significance and others have interesting architectural aspects. Most of the homes are 50 years or older but what it really comes down to is who would be willing and able to open up their houses to the public, Alberici said. And for the Community Preservation Committee, the event is about more than money.

“It brings people together ... and it creates a community interest,” she said.

Not all of the homeowners will be present, but the committee arranges for a docent to be in every room that people will be touring. This ensures that people who visit the various houses will learn some history and that there is no accidental damage to people's heirlooms, Alberici said. There will be 150 to 200 volunteers working two-hour shifts throughout the day.

Alberici is certain that the event will be a successful one.

“People always like to get into somebody else's house and look around and get ideas,” she said. “Home tours seem to be a thing that people use all over for fundraising and it draws a lot of attention to the Community Preservation Committee and our mission to hang on to some of the older things.”

Gitana Mirochnik

253-5311 ext. 237

gitana.mirochnik@lee.net

Photo provided

Tina Barry's stained glass will be on display during this year's Art in the Park.

Some of this year's Historic Homes

2 S. Marvine Ave.

The two-story center hall Colonial home built by Mr. R.J. Hoyle in 1925 is one of the first homes built on the Hoopes tract. The home is featured on an early postcard of the park.

3 S. Marvine Ave.

This brick ranch-style home was built in 1952 by prominent Auburn attorney Leon Goldman and his wife Marilyn. During the construction of the home, the Goldmans spared no expense. The home features heated sidewalks and a heated driveway. The front foyer and both bathrooms also have heated floors.

36 S. Marvine Ave.

This home was built in 1933, shortly after the area now known as Hoopes Park was created. One interesting feature is the frieze windows in the upstairs front bedroom. Another bedroom commands a view of the backyard, where deer can often be seen grazing in adjacent fields.

2 Teller Ave.

The white brick cottage home was built in 1930 by Judge Richard Drummond and his wife Lura. In the early 1960s, the home was purchased by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Stapleton. Stapleton was an avid baseball fan and the home still contains some of his baseball memorabilia, including a concession stand bar and a railing and banister made completely of baseballs and bats.

(Reprinted with permission from the Community Preservation Committee)