Holiday House Tour – Page 14 – Preservation of Historic Winchester

Friday Roundup: PHW Office News and Hurricane Preparedness

Thanks for bearing with us on a tough week in the preservation world. As you have likely heard, all of the BAR appeals on Tuesday were overturned, which opens the door for demolition of the Kent and Piccadilly corner. No Certificate of Appropriateness will be issued for the next thirty days. The developer had also previously stated at the City Council work session no buildings would be demolished until plans were finalized. There is also a further appeal process open to PHW should we choose to exercise it. Above all else, we hope to have productive meetings with city staff both for this project and any others in the future that involve our irreplaceable architectural resources. Public input, consultation, and collaboration with stakeholders and residents should always be a priority, especially in regards to large scale projects the Historic District.

We would like to thank councilors Willingham, Willey, McInturff, and McKannan for their position to retain the James Barr house at 206 N. Kent St., as well as McKannan for his support in seeing the historic value in the old Central Garage at 202 E. Piccadilly.

With the unpleasant business portion of our weekly recap complete, I would like to thank all the artisans who have filled in applications or expressed interest to the personal invitations to the Bough and Dough Shop. We are near our space limits for interior artisan setup as of this week. We are still open for a live greenery artist for after Thanksgiving to the end of the event, but all other slots appear filled or are in talks to be filled now. The applications will remain up on the website just a bit longer, and printed copies will remain available at the PHW office. New applicants will be retained on our call back list in case of last minute changes or spaces becoming available. Again, thank you all so much, and I hope we will have some fantastic new and unique items for our shoppers this year!

As you can imagine, we ran behind on getting our Holiday House Tour program booklet advertising material together, but the hard copy letters to past sponsors and those who have expressed interest are going out this week. If you would like to advertise your business, please get in touch and we will provide you the information. We are also very willing to help you design your ad or make sure it will work with our printer, so please feel free to contact us at phwinc.org@gmail.com for further information. The deadline for securing an advertising spot is October 31.

With the weather this weekend and into next week threatening us with even more rain, we would like to direct anyone with flooding or water penetration issues to our blog post highlighting a list of resources compiled by Preservation Maryland in our May 18 blog post. You may also want to review these checklists and documents for hurricane preparedness:
Hurricane Preparedness for Maryland’s Historic Properties
Hurricane Preparedness and Recovery for Owners of Historic Properties
Hurricane Preparedness For Old Houses
Hurricane Preparedness: Are You Ready?
Avoiding Hurricane Damage: A Checklist for Homeowners
We hope the worst of the storm passes us by, but we want to be prepared for the worst. Stay safe and dry, everyone!

Friday Roundup, Website Recovery Edition

Thanks for your patience as we worked through the website issues last week. I promise it was as inconvenient for us as you!

First, we would like to announce we have about ten artisans confirmed for Bough and Dough Shop. However, we believe we can still fit in a few more. On our current wishlist is:

Textile artist who does felted or woven pieces/ornaments
Greenery artist to make wreaths, centerpieces, swags, etc., using your own or the cut greenery at the Shop (after Thanksgiving)
Surprise us! We’re always open to new ideas for handmade, quality artisan goods.

Now, to the meat of this Friday post, and a sentiment we heard from the last speaker at the public hearing concerning the Piccadilly and Kent Street development plans: preservation of historic neighborhoods and community revitalization go hand in hand. The National Trust publication Rebuilding Community: A Best Practices Toolkit for Historic Preservation and Redevelopment states:

When disinvestment, poor maintenance and abandonment leave a neighborhood pock marked with vacant or dilapidated buildings, public officials and citizens often seek a quick solution to the community’s woes by razing the deteriorated structures. Demolition may effect a dramatic change in the neighborhood’s appearance, but it’s rarely a change for the better. Years of experience, much of it forged in the crucible of misguided programs such as urban renewal, have clearly demonstrated the folly of destroying a place in order to save it.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes there is a better way. Having encouraged and assisted neighborhood revitalization efforts in cities and towns all over America, we are convinced that the best way to restore vitality and livability to a community is to build on its strengths, to save and enhance the character and ambience that make each neighborhood unique, to preserve and celebrate the tangible evidence of the community’s history instead of smashing it to rubble and carting it off to the landfill.

Similarly, Tom Mayes in Why Do Old Places Matter? Community points out the problems of wiping away historic places and assuming a thriving community will rise from it:

Yet something critically important is often overlooked, and that is the idea that the development of a real community takes time. Community develops through the interaction between people and place over time. We cannot build a community—we can only foster the conditions in which communities can grow and thrive. Community occurs in the organic interaction between people and place. And over time, these communities typically develop with a diversity of ages, incomes, and ethnicities.

Building a new structure won’t make it futureproof for decline, and when the time comes when it inevitably needs maintenance, the historic associations, memories, and stories tied to places like 202 E. Piccadilly Street that make it an interesting and valuable place are gone. Like the Winchester Towers, a building “without roots” like this is likely to be demolished, again, perpetuating the cycle. Donovan Rypkema is the premiere authority on green building and the economics of historic preservation, and while both the transcription and video are long, check out Donovan Rypkema Discusses The Economics Of Historic Preservation for some further insight on how historic preservation is a key component to successful revitalization of cities and neighborhoods.

There is an assumption historic preservation and affordable housing are mutually exclusive, but that is not the case at all. Many of the HUD programs to support affordable housing can be partnered with preservation tools like the historic tax credit. We encourage anyone interested in this to read through the short booklet Affordable Housing and Historic Preservation, particularly the implementation principles on page 6 and explained in more depth through the booklet. We would particularly direct your attention to point IV, further detailed on page 10. All preservation practices direct the impact of demolition within a historic district to examine not just a single building, but its impact on the rest of its neighbors: “If the affected historic property is a historic district, the agency official should assess effects on the historic district as a whole.”

While we wait for City Council’s decision, I will leave you with a transcript, additional information, and video of Using the Historic Tax Credit for Affordable Housing.

Bough & Dough Shop Call for Supplies

We are so excited about the new artists joining our line up for the Bough & Dough Shop this year! During our open house meet and greet on Saturday, we heard that in addition to our normal gently used paper and plastic bags, PHW is also in need of donations of bubble wrap for packaging some art – our usual craft paper wrapping is not going to cut it. If you have some bits and pieces from shipping boxes or leftover ends of bubble wrap rolls, PHW is now gratefully accepting your donations at our office, 530 Amherst Street in Winchester. If we are not in when you stop by, feel free to tuck your donated bags and bubble wrap between the doors of the back porch. Thank you!

(We still have room for more artists – we are especially hoping for an interesting fiber/textile artist and are open to other media. You can download a PDF of the info and application here, or apply online with a Google account.)

Bough & Dough Shop Meet & Greet

Are you curious about the Bough & Dough Shop? Are you a prospective artisan or volunteer who wants to ask some questions? Stop by on Saturday afternoon between 1:30 and 3:30 PM to see the space, pick up and fill out a vendor application, or stop in to chat for a bit at this informal session.

If you can’t make it to this event, please get in touch; we’d love to talk to you at your convenience and our hours are generally flexible. You may email us at phwinc.org@gmail.com or call 540-667-3577.

Friday Roundup: Fourth of July Edition

Happy Friday! We had a great time kicking off PHW’s 54th year last Sunday, and we have more great things on the horizon. First, our holiday schedule for the Fourth of July:

Closed Tuesday, July 3, but stop by our table near 28 S. Loudoun St. (the Godfrey Miller House) during Rockin Independence Eve and pick up some self-guided walking tours and other PHW swag (donations kindly accepted). The event runs from 5-11 PM; we’re not sure how long our supplies will hold out, so you might want to stop by early!
The PHW office will be closed all day July 4 and July 5.

In keeping with the patriotic theme this time of year, we are happy to report the Clowser Foundation has secured their lease on the Clowser House in Shawneeland for the next 98 years. This was truly a labor of love for this amazing group, and we are beyond thrilled for them. Fabulous job, everyone!

Perhaps a bit ironically, but with summer comes the official call for Bough and Dough Shop artisans! We are trying to go “high tech” in our process this year. Apply with our online version of the Bough and Dough Shop jury form (requires a Google account)
or go with the reliable old school print and mail forms (PDF).

If you are thinking of applying, we are looking for unique handcrafted items. We would especially like to find a basket-maker, another potter or two, and perhaps jewelry, but we are very open to reviewing any submissions. We anticipate having about double the interior floor space we had at our longtime Shop location at the Winchester Little Theatre and we would love to showcase many more artisans this year. Don’t be shy, apply!

Happy New Year!

We’re not quite there yet, but this will be our last post of 2017. Before you completely wrap up your holiday spirit, be sure to let us know your feedback on the Holiday House Tour in a quick 5-10 minute survey.

As you snuggle in for another holiday weekend, you may want to read up on the first photographs of snowflakes and read about the Feast of Fools celebration on New Year’s Day. If the cold weather has you down, you might want to read about the Victorian-inspired decorations in the Allan Gardens Conservatory.

Stay safe, stay warm, and have a happy New Year!

Friday Photos: Holiday House Tour

Happy Friday! We have several sets of images from the 2017 Holiday House Tour to share this year. To start, you can view the scrapbook images from the Cornelius Baldwin house that were playing on a slideshow during the tour. You can also do the same to the slideshow images that were playing at 125 E. Clifford St. On top of that, we have a general album with the room setup at the Bough and Dough Shop on Friday night and some of the houses on Saturday and Sunday.

If you haven’t yet, please help us out for next year’s tour and send us some feedback. Average completion time is about 4 minutes. We read and discuss all feedback and take it into account for next year, so thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Take a Quick Holiday House Tour Survey!

Thank you all so much for your support of the Holiday House Tour and Bough & Dough Shop. While we are still tallying final numbers, we had at least 400 visitors come through the event, and the overall Shop numbers were close to last year.

We want to keep building on this momentum! Please help us plan for the 2018 Holiday House Tour by providing feedback. The survey is estimated to take 5-10 minutes. All comments are anonymous and will be reviewed in our planning sessions in January and February. The online survey closes on January 31, 2018.

Click here for the survey on the 2017 Holiday House Tour!

P.S. – Mark your 2018 calendars for December 1 & 2 for our 42nd Holiday House Tour!

Holiday House Tour Wrap Up Notes

Thank you all very much for your support of the 2017 tour! Early reports are that we likely had over 400 visitors again this year. While we work on getting the feedback survey for 2017 finalized for Friday’s post, we wanted to update two things very quickly:

1. We discovered our old email address was still showing on PayPal receipts, and this may cause problems if you find an error in your checkout information. We found one more place the old email information was hidden in PayPal and flipped the setting. If you need to contact us for a PayPal payment double charge/dispute, the correct email address is phwinc.org@gmail.com.

2. As we were getting to the bottom of the donated paper bags on Sunday (thank you to everyone who chipped in!) we found a pair of prescription glasses in a black leather case in the bottom of the bags. If you are missing your glasses and think they might have been picked up in the donated bags, please let us know at phwinc.org@gmail.com or 540-667-3577. We will hold onto the glasses for a reasonable amount of time before donating them.

Last Notes for the Holiday House Tour

As we near the last hours before the 41st annual Holiday House Tour kicks off, here are a couple things to keep in mind:

If you have questions, the best place to find someone well-versed on the House Tour Saturday and Sunday is the Bough & Dough Shop at the Winchester Little Theatre, 315 W. Boscawen St. The Shop is open Saturday 9 AM-5 PM and on Sunday 11 AM-5 PM.

The normal PHW phone number (540-667-3577) and email (phwinc.org@gmail.com) will not be staffed from Friday-Sunday. Should the weather or some other disaster impact the tour, we will try to push notifications on Facebook, the PHW blog, and the PHW voicemail message ASAP.

The hours for the house tours are Saturday (Preview Party and Candlelight Tour) 6-9 PM, and Sunday (Daylight Tour) from 1-5 PM.

Tickets are still available at the advance ticket sale locations:

The Final Yard, 33 East Gerrard Street
Kimberly’s, 135 North Braddock Street
Wilkins’ Shoe Center, 7 South Loudoun Street
Winchester Book Gallery, 185 North Loudoun Street
Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center, 1400 South Pleasant Valley Road

Tickets will also be available at the Bough & Dough Shop on December 2 and 3. Remember, ticket prices are $20 at the houses on Sunday. Tickets will still be offered at the advance sale price of $15 at the Bough & Dough Shop on Sunday.

Admission to a single site on Sunday is $5. Pay at the door of the house you wish to visit.

There will be complimentary warm drinks at the Bough & Dough Shop for all visitors as in previous years.

Look for the red PHW sandwich board for the guided tour meeting spot at the Winchester Little Theatre on Sunday. Tours will leave every half hour from 1-4 PM (last tour leaves at 4 and finishes at 4:30). There will likely be two to three guides on hand to break into smaller staggered groups, as needed.

Costumed carolers from Winchester Little Theatre, organized by Jim and Kendra Getaz, will once again stroll the streets and serenade tour-goers at the open houses on Sunday with festive holiday music. Carolers sing 4 or 5 holiday standards at each stop. They will start and end at the Winchester Little Theatre, and travel to the houses open on the tour.

We are also expecting Jim Moyer of the French and Indian War Foundation to be on hand at 420 North Loudoun Street in his period reenactment uniform to help tell the story of Fort Loudoun on Sunday afternoon.

The weather forecast is partly cloudy on Saturday, to sunny on Sunday. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 50s, falling to the low 30s overnight. No precipitation is expected and winds should be mild.

Have a safe and happy Holiday House Tour, everyone!