Video of the 2010 Home, Garden, and Auto Tour. Copyright 2010 Phil Yunker, Yunker videoproductionservices. Posted with permission.
Photographs of the 2010 Home, Garden, and Auto Tour. Copyright 2010 Gretchen A. Turner. Posted with permission.
Historic Meridian Park, one of Indianapolis’ pre-eminent early 20th century neighborhoods, offered a rare glimpse inside a number of its beautifully maintained and restored homes, as well as some of its gorgeous porches, gardens. and antique cars, during the 2010 Tour of Homes on June 26 and 27 from noon to 5:00 PM.
Located within Mapleton Fall Creek, Historic Meridian Park is bounded by Pennsylvania St. and Washington Blvd. from 30th to 34th streets. Tour organizers looked forward to sharing the splendor of their near north side community with the public for the first time since 2006. In particular, they were excited to shine the spotlight on the front porches in their neighborhood which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“We decided on ‘Front Porches: Reflecting and Connecting’ as our theme because our porches illustrate not just the beauty of our neighborhood, but also utility and social connection,” said Cassie Mehlman-Rhys, chair of the 2010 Tour of Homes. “Just as a kitchen serves as a gathering place within a home, a front porch serves as the same kind of place for a neighborhood. I’ve met many of my neighbors, and made many friends, by simply sitting on my front porch and greeting people as they come and go.”
Tour attendees were invited to stop and take a breather at “welcoming porches” between their visits to houses. Antique cars were on display in the 3200 block of Pennsylvania St. and food and drinks were available for purchase on Washington Ct.
Also of note for 2010, six of the tour homes had been restored to their former glory after being gutted down to the studs. But you’d never know it with the attention to historic detail that has been preserved. One home currently in the beginning stages of major renovations will be opening its doors to tour goers.
“We want to showcase the sometimes long and difficult work that goes into maintaining and restoring homes that are more than 100 years old,” Mehlman-Rhys added. “Seeing a renovation project in progress is often inspiring.”
Among Indianapolis’ first suburbs, Historic Meridian Park is best known for its Arts & Crafts architecture, including Mission-, American Four-Square-, and Prairie-style homes; but it also features outstanding examples of Tudor, Dutch Colonial Revival, Italian Villa and French Eclectic styles. All of the buildings in the area reflect the use of natural materials such as brick, stucco, wood siding, and tile, and they emphasize visible structural elements such as beams and large overhangs.
Profits from the 2010 Tour of Homes benefit neighborhood beautification and ongoing neighborhood projects.
The following homes and gardens (listed with their owners and notes) were featured:
- 201 Washington Ct.; Jerry Johnson; American Foursquare
- 215 Washington Ct.; Annie Owen and David Bartley; Garden oasis on unique Washington Ct.
- 3015 Pennsylvania St., Apt. 12 Esplanade; John Carmer; Three-story apartment in Historic Esplanade Apartments
- 3054 Pennsylvania St.; State Sen. Tom Wyss; Daughter and son-in-law renovated this home plus several others in neighborhood
- 3128 Pennsylvania St.; Ken Keene; Legendary “Tuckaway” (Sunday only)
- 3064 Delaware St.; Sharon Gamble, managing director for the Phoenix Theatre and host of WFYI’s “The Art of the Matter”; Gardens featuring a dozen varieties of hydrangea
- 3157 Delaware St.; Jeff and Stacy Patrick; Gardens grown from scratch
- 3210 Washington Blvd.; Hope Tribble; Modern decor
- 3363 Washington Blvd.; Jess LaNore; Previously a duplex, now under renovation
- 3444 Washington Blvd.; City-Co. Councilor Jackie Nytes, executive director of Mapleton Fall Creek CDC, and Michael O’Brien; Formerly housed a business
- 55 E. 32nd St.; Ben Solomon; Antique decor
- 3243 N. Meridian St.; Trinity Episcopal Church; English-style garden