Tag: Friday Photos

This post is part of the series of history posts in celebration of PHW’s 50th Anniversary year. For the newcomers to this list, you may catch up on the earlier posts in this series at the PHW blog under the tag 50th Anniversary.

At long last, in May 1988 the final contract between the City and PHW to allow the organization a chance to find a new use for the “ugly” Kurtz Building was finalized, though with a few important strings attached. The City would not turn over the building to PHW if and until the work was completed on time — should PHW fail to complete the rehabilitation by 1989, the City would not convey the building to PHW. Frederick County still retained building rights for the land surrounding the Kurtz as well. Although unlikely, there was a possibility the County could decide to build on the lot and thereby raze the Kurtz. (1)(2)

Despite the gravity of the situation, spirits at PHW were high and optimism abounded. Thomas Kamstra and Eric Snyder were brought on board as architect and project manager and public input sessions were held with them to plan for the building’s future uses.(3)(4) Elaine Rebman was hired as the director for the Kurtz Cultural Center.(5) And in keeping with PHW’s tradition of hands-on volunteerism, a demolition party manned by volunteers cleared out the interior of the Kurtz.(6)

With this groundwork laid, it was time for PHW to make the most of the opportunity to save the Kurtz.(7) The $100,000 in state money from the Virginia Preservation Fund came through, after being chosen from a pool of 120 other applications. Local businesses and individuals began making contributions for the named rooms in the Kurtz Building, and the fundraising events began with an art show by Geneva Welch and an oriental rug exhibit and sale. Shenandoah University donated a performance of “The Pirates of Penzance” to the fundraising efforts, and PHW was given permission to make prints of the Edward Beyer painting “A View of Winchester,” which is now on display at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.(8) (9)

This pattern continued through 1989 and 1990. PHW was granted an extension for the exterior and structural stabilization phase due to complications from asbestos removal, but the fundraising events continued full steam, with more state grants, more donations from local businesses, and more art, antique, musical, and fashion shows. A playhouse-sized model of the Kurtz Building was even constructed by local high school students and raffled as a fundraiser during the 1989 Potato Hill Street Festival.(10) The project at last began to seem like a reality in April of 1990, when the building was opened for a hard hat tour to show off the structural work and the mysteries uncovered in the building.(11)

The Chamber of Commerce moved into their new office space in the Hollingsworth Mill in the summer of 1987, leaving the Kurtz vacant and in immanent danger of demolition for a plaza around the Joint Judicial Center. (1) The first foray was a petition to City Council to incorporate the Kurtz into the plaza designs.(2) The petition did not seem to gain much traction with the Municipal Buildings Committee, so PHW shifted focus to coming up with a new and relevant use for the building.

As part of PHW’s strategy to save the Kurtz, the organization leased the space and did some minor cleanup and partition wall removal to help people better visualize the interior space. Countless hours of meetings with many other nonprofits and community organizations went into planning for the April 1988 deadline to present a restoration plan to City Council. The idea to save the Kurtz seemed to split the town’s sentiment’s almost evenly, as this building did not have the grandeur of the lost Conrad House or the emotional connection of Old John Kerr. Selling the preservation plan of a warehouse did not lend itself as easily to a sense of urgency and need. Even the building’s intriguing Victorian era additions, its status as the last trace of the commercial center that used to be focused on the land around Rouss City Hall, and its potential to serve as a downtown arts hub was not a draw. (3)

Knowing that a strong understanding of the facts was vital to make the case for the building’s retention, PHW partnered with Warren Hofstra to produce oral histories focusing on the Kurtz Building.(4) (5) At the same time, PHW in turn leased the space to other organizations to show the building still had more potential years of service left in it. Perhaps the best remembered of those was the Shawnee Kennel Club, which used the space for winter training and socialization space.(6)

Even as public opinions started to change on the Kurtz, the deadline to present to City Council drew ever nearer. We will continue this tale next week.

As we return to the history of PHW this week, we turn to PHW’s largest preservation activity of the late 1980s into the early 2000s – the Kurtz Building at the corner of Cameron and Boscawen Streets. The Kurtz Building was built by a group of businessmen from Harper’s Ferry to house grain before shipping it by railroad to the mills circa 1836.(1) The lot, advantageously situated at the heart of Winchester’s commercial downtown, was purchased from the Conrad family, who owned the adjoining (and now razed) Conrad House. By 1846, Robert Conrad repurchased the property and leased the building to various commercial enterprises for the next thirty years. In 1877, Captain George Washington Kurtz(2) purchased the building and it became the seat of his furniture, undertaking, and embalming business.

The Kurtz Building, as 2 N. Cameron has come to be known, was expanded several times. The most visible expansion is the circa 1880 Second Empire style tower addition to the north, said to be used for the funerary functions. Several additions were made to the rear in the 1920s and 1940s. Lucy Kurtz, the daughter of George Kurtz, assumed the family business in 1926. The furniture business was gradually phased out at this point, leaving only the funerary services until the business was finally closed in 1968, after 100 years of operation by the Kurtz family.(3) In 1968, she sold the Kurtz Building to the City of Winchester. Afterward, the space was used by physicians and the Chamber of Commerce, and briefly the county judges occupied the space during the construction of the Joint Judicial Center behind the Kurtz Building.

The fear had always been in the back of people’s minds since the demolition of the Conrad House in 1970 that the Kurtz Building would likely suffer the same fate once there was no other use for the space. After the completion of the Joint Judicial Center, Winchester City and Frederick County had tentatively agreed to install a plaza in the space between Rouss City Hall and the Joint Judicial Center. Designs for this plaza were drawn up in 1984. One of those plans called for the demolition of the Kurtz Building.

Although the city was ready to proceed with the plaza construction, the matter was complicated by the county’s unwillingness to provide a commitment. The building was also still the home of the Chamber of Commerce, at least until the renovation of the Hollingsworth Mill was complete. The breathing space allowed PHW the time to perform a study on the Kurtz Building, which determined there was still life left in the building. The findings were presented to Winchester’s Finance and Municipal Buildings committee representatives in 1985. The presentation garnered a cool reception, as the committee felt they had no need for the space at the Kurtz, and if it could not be used for government purposes it should not be leased out to tenants. It was even suggested PHW make an inventory of salvageable items in the structure, as it was very likely to be demolished.(4)

The story could have ended there, but as we will see in the upcoming weeks, there is much more to this tale of an “ugly warehouse.”

At the end of 1985, PHW was able to make one of its most significant Revolving Fund purchases. The building in question was the Hexagon House, the unique six-sided structure at 530 Amherst Street. Through the early 1980s, the building had transitioned away from residential use to office space. Plans were formulated to build an entirely new medical structure in the front yard, essentially blocking the now iconic view of the “yellow house on the hill.” The plan did not materialize, but it was clear that the Hexagon House was facing dire pressures on its historic integrity.

Although the purchase price was far above what PHW could normally afford for a Revolving Fund purchase, the acquisition was possible because a buyer was waiting in the wings – Julian Wood Glass, Jr. In addition, he extended the generous offer for PHW to utilize the building for office space – an offer that has continued today through the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

The Hexagon House was a substantial bump up in floor space from PHW’s first office at 8 East Cork Street. To help furnish the building, PHW hosted a three day gala in April of 1986 much in the spirit of the Holiday House Tours. The house was decorated by a number of antique dealers and interior decorators. Friday evening was an invitation-only cocktail buffet, and Saturday and Sunday were open house tours for the public. The weekend raised just under $5,000.00, and netted several donated furnishings. The refrigerator, donated by Mary Henkel, is still serving PHW to this day!

View images from the Cocktail Buffet at Flickr.

Happy Friday! The PHW history posts are on a brief hiatus during this busy behind the scenes period of activity on the Holiday House Tour. But never fear, there are still plenty of images and history to be shared from PHW’s collections.

This week, we take a look at some very recent PHW history, our 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Taylor Pavilion on September 19. It was universally praised as one of PHW’s best events in years, and we hope you were able to attend. If you missed it, you can get a little glimpse into the activities and atmosphere that night with some candid shots of the action. Special thanks to Becky Parrish, caterer from “A Matter of Taste,” and the Robert Larson Trio who provided our live music for the evening. We are also indebted to our friends at the Winchester Little Theatre, who loaned us four fabulous volunteers — Don Vachon, Karen Marjarov, and Jim and Kendra Getaz — for the check in table so that the PHW board members could enjoy the fruits of their labors.

View the album on Flickr.

It’s hard to believe, but we are just one week away from PHW’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Tickets are still available; see the 50th Anniversary page for more details on how to reserve your spot.

In honor of our upcoming 50th celebration on September 19, we look back today at the 25th, or Silver Anniversary celebration, which was held in October 1989 at the recently renovated Rouss City Hall. Relieve the last big anniversary celebration with some candid photos before making new memories next Friday!

View the album on Flickr.

It’s another short post this week as we continue to work on PHW’s 50th Anniversary Celebration (spots are still available!).

This special two-part tour and lecture focusing on Staunton was coordinated in 1988 by Katie Rockwood and Kay Whitworth. The first phase, a lecture, was held in the Old Stone Church on East Piccadilly Street in Winchester. Ann McCleary, Curator at the then newly opened Museum of Frontier American Culture, spoke on the early 18th and 19th century architecture of the Shenandoah Valley, and how the Frontier Museum interprets the lives of the early pioneers.

The second phase was the field trip to Staunton. The first stop on the bus trip was the Frontier Museum itself. At that time, two homesteads were completed – the Scotch-Irish and the Appalachian farm. PHW’s guests were offered a special guided tour on this trip, as normally experiencing the site was unguided.

The tour group had a private tour and lunch at Belle Grae Inn, which at the time was a gourmet hotspot in an 1870s Italianate home converted to a bed and breakfast establishment.

After lunch, the group meet with representatives from the Historic Staunton Foundation for a walking tour of the downtown, with an emphasis on how their Facade Improvement Program impacted both the appearance and economic vitality of their downtown. Some of the highlighted spots included Trinity Church, Stuart House, C.W. Miller House, and The Oaks.

Relive the field trip to Staunton at the Flickr album.

As you may have deduced from past Friday Photos posts, the 1980s were the most active period for the Jennings Revolving Fund. This was a critical period which saw some truly remarkable renovations take place. This activity helped to much of the core downtown after decades of rampant demolitions for parking lots.

The unfortunate side effect of this work is that by returning these buildings to single family use, the renters in the multiple apartments were displaced. The massive amounts of work to the buildings naturally led to a rise in property values and slowly began to change the perception of neighborhoods like Potato Hill from somewhere undesirable to a safe and attractive neighborhood. This displacement, called gentrification, was one of the main criticisms leveled at PHW and the Revolving Fund.

Although PHW’s approach to Revolving Fund purchases was to offer a current renter the ability to purchase the property, in most cases this was not feasible for the renter. The Revolving Fund houses were often in disrepair past the point of someone inexperienced and not financially stable taking on the task of renovating them on their own. It is hard to imagine someone diving into renovations for the first time with properties like the Grim-Moore house, 215 S. Loudoun, or the Huntsberry Building and reaching a successful outcome.

To that end, PHW partnered with the City on a Community Development Block Grant for Kent Street. The CDBG was primarily aimed at reversing blight in rental properties and focusing on maintaining the existing building stock as the likelihood for new construction declined. A secondary motivation was in response to the fear of the downtown as a whole declining as the key anchor stores moved to the Apple Blossom Mall. By keeping the surrounding neighborhoods inhabited, there was more chance of businesses remaining downtown because of the built-in clientele.

All told, the 1980 CDBG project addressed safety and blight concerns in 28 residential properties on North and South Kent Street. Fire hazards were one of the highest cited problems for the neighborhoods. The houses typically lacked central heating and relied on wood stoves, kerosene heaters, or portable electric heaters, all of which raise the potential for fires. The data collection for the CDBG also found many buildings did not have adequate plumbing (some never having been connected to the existing sewer service) and many were overcrowded. There were also insufficient fire hydrants and in some cases the very streets were too narrow for fire equipment to access.

The houses were renovated to provide fire breaks and improve electrical wiring conditions. At the same time, sidewalks, water lines, and sewer lines were improved and the stone retaining walls on South Kent Street were repaired. PHW’s focus was primarily on South Kent Street in the 300 block. Seven of the units on South Kent Street were under PHW’s purview. Although reactions to the project were mixed and it never quelled the concerns about gentrification, one unit in particular was called out as a prime success story.

311 1/2 South Kent was the smallest of PHW’s units and the first to be renovated. Completed and put up for sale in 1982, potential buyers would have to qualify under special Department of Housing and Urban Development restrictions because the house was renovated with CDBG funds. It didn’t take long for the house to find its new owner. After being listed in February and shown in an open house event, the home was sold to Daryl Monn and his family in May. (1) (2) It had been a perfect opportunity for Monn, who had been struggling to find a home. Through PHW, the Monns could realize their dream of home ownership.

A copy of the 1980 CDBG Kent Street paperwork is on file at PHW and is available to researchers seeking more information. See the Flickr album for images of 311 1/2 South Kent Street before and during PHW’s renovation.