Historic house tours fill Mother's Day weekend

There will be two unique house tours, for those interested in seeing some of the available housing stock in the Clifton and East Walnut Hills neighborhoods, over the Mother's Day weekend.

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting “Upstairs, Downstairs” on Saturday, May 9th from 1pm to 5pm which will be a self-guided tour of six historic homes in the Beechcrest-Madison Road area of East Walnut Hills.  Advance registrations are required for this tour and tickets cost $25 for CPA members and $30 for guests.

The houses on the tour stand out architecturally and offer a variety of architectural styles including Georgian Revival, Tudor Revival, Cotswold Cottage and American Arts & Crafts.  Those who attend the tour will also receive a keepsake program with profiles of the historic properties as CPA commemorates 45 years of preservation work within the Greater Cincinnati area.

There will be live music, refreshments and guided tours of the Verona Historic Residences for everyone, after they finish their self-guided tour, from 1pm to 7pm at the Verona Courtyard (2356 Park Avenue).  To make a reservation or receive an invitation please call (513) 721-4506 or email [email protected].
The second tour will be hosted the following day on Sunday, May 10th, from 1pm to 5pm, in the Clifton neighborhood.  There will be nine homes on this tour as Clifton homeowners will open their doors for the Cincinnati public to view their homes from the 1800s to the 1950s.

The Clifton House Tour is held every third year on Mother’s Day.  This year’s collection of homes includes Victorian, American Four Square, Tudor and Frank Lloyd Wright architectural styles.

The tour costs $15 in advance or $20 on the day of the tour.  The proceeds are reinvested in the community through the various projects of Clifton Town Meeting (CTM) like carriage rides, streetscaping projects, the publication of the Clifton Chronicle and movie nights.

A free shuttle is available to those attending this year’s tour and will take tour goers from the various parking locations to the homes in order to shorten walking times and allow people to leisurely view the homes.

You can purchase your tickets in advance at the following Ludlow Avenue merchants:  Columbia Savings Bank, Esquire Theatre, Ludlow Wines, Olive’s, Skyline Chili, U.S. Bank or by calling (513) 861-2000.  To find out more information on parking locations, volunteering or to purchase your tickets online please visit this website.

Writer: Randy Simes
Source: Clifton Town Meeting; Cincinnati Preservation Association