SALISBURY — Historic Salisbury Foundation’s 39th Annual OctoberTour, Oct. 11 and 12, will showcase 11 private homes, including several in the Fulton Heights neighborhood.
The foundation’s 1820 Dr. Josephus Hall House also will be on tour.
OctoberTour is one of the oldest and largest fall house tours in the South. Over the past 38 years, the tour has featured approximately 153 private historic homes and sites throughout the community.
Houses featured in this year’s OctoberTour will come from the southern portion of the West Square historic District — Salisbury’s first historic district — and Fulton Heights, a streetcar neighborhood developed in the early 20th century as an outgrowth of nationwide planning efforts such as the City Beautiful Movement.
The homes on tour display a rich variety of architectural styles and interior designs. Historic Salisbury Foundation held a launch party Thursday night to announce the tour offering for 2014.
This year’s OctoberTour sites:
• 1924 Dr. F.B. Spencer House, 528 S. Fulton St. Designed by Charlotte architect Louis H. Asbury (1877-1975), this traditional, four-bedroom Italian Foursquare home influenced the style of houses in the Fulton Heights area. To build this house, Spencer moved another structure that occupied the lot. There are four working fireplaces.
• 1905 Heilig-Raney House, 603 S. Fulton St. This two-story brick four square, influenced by the Colonial Revival style, was built in 1920 by Dr. Herman G. Heilig, who built the house on the adjacent corner of Fulton Street in 1905. The house was designed for Heilig by prominent Charlotte architect Martin E. Boyer (1893-1970). Boyer attended Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie-Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, where he was trained in the Beaux Arts tradition. During World War I he served as a naval architect, and in World War II, he was a lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Boyer practiced architecture in Charlotte for more than 50 years and mostly designed homes for wealthy patrons.
• 1901 Bean-Cathey House, 722 S. Fulton St. This rectangular-shaped home contains a hipped slate roof and full façade porch supported by tall wooden columns. Built as a rental property by Mary Bean, the Bean-Cathey House has been through many twists and turns. In 1913, the home was moved forward and rotated so that the side porch became what is now the front porch and a kitchen was added.
The Catheys were the maternal grandparents of Salisbury native, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
• 1879 McCubbins-Rouser House, 727 S. Fulton St. James Samuel McCubbins, prominent Salisbury businessman and director of Salisbury Savings Bank, built this handsome two story Italianate dwelling. In the 1920s, Rouser added the expansive Colonial Revival front porch with dentil molding and groups of Tuscan columns. Later, he built the apartments that flank the home — one in 1936, the other in 1950. The home’s current owners have continued perfecting their architectural enhancement by adding period chandeliers and restoring massive pocket doors.
• 1905 M.L. Trexler House, 103 Mitchell Ave. This two-story frame Queen Anne/Colonial Revival home was one of the first houses built in the new Fulton-Heights Street Car Subdivision. When the current owners first stepped foot in their house the entire structure had been gutted, and it was in complete disrepair. Doors were found in the back yard, the stairwell had fallen over, and the floors were deteriorating. Details like period-appropriate mantels have been returned to the home’s seven fireplaces, including colorful Cambridge Tile surrounds. The current owners of the M.L. Trexler House received a 2014 Preservation Award from HSF for their hard work and attention to detail.
• 1925 J.R. Bias House, 120 Mitchell Ave. Maggie and James R. Bias, owner of the Victor Service Station on South Main Street, were the first occupants of this quintessential Craftsman bungalow. The one-story, cross-gable form of this brick home features a spacious wrap-around porch with truncated battered columns on tall brick piers.
The porch gables are further enhanced with a playful pattern of horizontal planks and hipped blocking.
• 1906 T.A. Ludwick House, 200 Mitchell Ave. The current owners are upgrading the building to allow for four upscale, two-bedroom apartments. This structure was used as multi-family housing prior to 1935, which was common in the Fulton-Heights area. Each of the four apartments will include modernized kitchens and bathrooms. The front porch and exterior board/pebble dash will be restored to their original condition. The T.A. Ludwick House is this year’s rehabilitation-in-progress house.
• 1908 Reams-Hambley House, 612 Mitchell Ave. The two-story, hip-roofed frame Reams-Hambley House is one of the earlier houses in Fulton Heights. This home has a central dormer, triple-grouped windows in the center of the second level and an outstanding full façade hipped porch supported by round columns. Sidney C. Reams, president of Salisbury Bank and Trust and part of Reams-Jones Furniture Company, owned this home until around 1920.
• 1925 P.H. Wallenborn House, 628 Mitchell Ave. This impressive one-and-a-half story, hipped-roof Colonial Revival home was constructed as an investment in 1915 by W.M.E. McWhirter, who lived in the Reams-Hambly House at 612 Mitchell Ave. He later sold the house to its first occupant, Peter A. Wallenborn, who was president of Salisbury Motor Co. and vice-president of Salisbury Country Club.
The home exhibits large hipped dormers on the front and sides, an entry with half-sidelights and windows with multi-paned headers. The local granite veneer added by Wallenborn in the mid-1920s sets this home apart from others in the Fulton Heights Neighborhood.
• 1930 Jacob W. Miller House, 618 Wiley Ave. This stately two-story, hipped brick Colonial Revival house with gabled entry stoop and porte-cochere was built by Miller, the vice president of Raney-Cline Motor Company. The grand front porch is supported by heavy brick columns, and the windows are attractively adorned with decorative granite accents.
• 1925 E.F. Shumaker House, 309 Wiley Ave. This bungalow has classic American Craftsman features, including a low pitched roof with wide eaves, exposed rafter tails and decorative knee braces. It is one-and-a-half stories with gabled front and rear dormers, and a deep porch with tapering columns over brick pillars. The current owners have refinished the oak and pine flooring and decorative woodwork, and added antique lighting.
The owners’ collection of period arts and crafts furniture, art and decorative items are displayed throughout the home.
• 1820 Dr. Josephus W. Hall House and Kitchen, 226 South Jackson St. The Hall House grounds and adjacent portion of West Bank Street will feature food vendors and entertainment both days.
For tour information, visit Historic Salisbury Foundation’s OctoberTour website: www.OctoberTour.com. Advance tour tickets are $20 for HSF members and may be purchased at the office located at 215 South Depot St.
Non-member advance tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased online through www.OctoberTour.com. In early September, tickets will be available for purchase from local merchants throughout Rowan County.
Ticket locations will be announced on the website. Tickets on the days of the tour will be $30.
Discounted, pre-event tickets are offered for groups of 10 or more.