Historic Tyler promotes the preservation and appreciation of Tyler’s architectural and cultural historic resources through education, advocacy and action. Executive Director Ashley Washmon shares the organization’s current focus and upcoming projects.
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Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio 99.7 KVUT, I’m Mike Landess. Whether you are a native, a semi-native, or just moved to Tyler, this city’s historic homes are a treasure that you’ll want to see. And on March 31, April 1 and April 2, you can tour some of the finest examples of Tyler’s homes from days gone by during Historic Tyler’s annual candlelight home tour and daytime tour. With us is Ashley Washmon, who is Executive Director of Historic Tyler. Welcome.
Ashley Washmon: Thank you for having me.
Mike Landess: Good to see you again. Tell us about the tour and the homes that’ll be on display now this is in the Charnwood District, right?
Ashley Washmon: This is actually our 42nd tour. The tour started in 1981, and this year all of our homes are featured in the historic Charnwood Residential District, which is actually the first district we ever had designated here in Tyler.
Mike Landess: Tell us a little bit more about the homes themselves. Are these, private homes that people actually live in, or some of them businesses, or both?
Ashley Washmon: Well, they’re privately owned. Most of them are residences. The candlelight house this year is actually an office, but it has been recently renovated to be a home in the future.
What makes this particular tour special, in my opinion, is the fact that it’s a walking tour. Typically, our tours, we try to cluster a couple of the houses together, but they’re all the districts. But this year, all of the houses are within a block of each other. So it’s a true walking tour.
And you know, like I said, this was the first district that was designated, but the period of significance for this district is the late 19th century and the earliest 20th century. So these houses are some of the oldest and best examples of historic homes in Tyler.
Mike Landess: My guess is that most people, at some point or another, if they lived in Tyler any time at all, have driven by them and wondered about them, but didn’t know much about them.
Ashley Washmon: This is your chance to see inside.
Mike Landess: Exactly. So, the cost involved. Now, the Friday night event is more exclusive and that includes a party. Tell us a little bit about that. What all will be involved in that?
Ashley Washmon: OK, so our candlelight tour and garden party. That house, which is this year it’s the Hand Mayfield Hunt House.
And that house is only open on Friday evening. And so that ticket is $125 for members and $150 for non-members. And you arrive and you have champagne and you tour the home and you end in the garden. And we have just a cocktail party, and it’s a lovely evening. And that tour also gets you into the daytime homes, which are the other five homes that are on tour.
Mike Landess: That’s a pretty good deal. So, Saturday and Sunday, the walking tours are pretty much within everyone’s reach. What are the times they take place and what’s the cost?
Ashley Washmon: So, Saturday is April 1, and we open at 10 a.m. and the tour is available through 5 p.m. and then Sunday, April 2, we open at one and we close at four.
Tickets are $15 a member, and $25 for a non-member.
Mike Landess: Well, that brings me to my next question, and that is I’m assuming that you are hoping beyond hope that some of the people who come and visit us will say, gee, I’d like to be a member. Tell us what’s involved with that.
Ashley Washmon: Well, being a member of Historic Tyler — your membership basically bolsters our voice for preservation in this city.
And then your membership dues also contribute to our preservation projects that we choose each year. And so you can join Historic Tyler by visiting our website or contacting the office.
Mike Landess: Now on this particular event that’s coming up, you have been talking about the need for docents. Explain for the folks that don’t know what a docent is. And how does one become one and part of this event?
Ashley Washmon: So being a docent is actually a really fun way to experience these homes in a deeper way. So a docent is when you arrive at the home, a docent will take you through the property. However, the tour itself is self-guided. So there’s not, an order of events that you have to, you know, follow.
The docents, they get a script beforehand. They have an introductory meeting at the property the week before. And so you just get a deeper knowledge of the home.
Mike Landess: So if I’m, if I’m docent at the Connolly Holly Yeager House at 2 0 7 East Chardon Wood and I want to be a docent, I’m gonna go in and I’m gonna learn everything pretty much that there is to know about that house, right?
Ashley Washmon: Correct. And all you have to do is contact the office and there is actually a signup link on our social media page. Or I can send it to you. One thing I would like to point out is that our tour is always in conjunction with the Azalea Trails, and so I don’t know if you’ve visited Tyler during the spring, but Tyler shows off when Spring pops in Tyler.
It’s gorgeous. And so, the Azalea Trails is through the city. You know, just the beautiful yards. And they’re in the Azalea District. . And so our, home tour is just right in the same area essentially. And so it’s just a great, springtime activity to enjoy our beautiful city.
Mike Landess: This particular event is something that brings attention to the fact that we want to preserve this history of Tyler. And can you tell me why you think that’s important for somebody just moving here, or for someone who’s a Gen X, A Gen Z — what do you tell them about why saving this old house is important?
Ashley Washmon: Historic preservation is synonymous with the charm that we all love about Tyler. Without the historic properties in our town, our Tyler would essentially be sterilized. And so I felt strongly that the historic properties, the history associated with Tyler defines what we all love about our town.
Mike Landess: Give me a peak into what’s coming up next for Historic Tyler.
Ashley Washmon: We are working really hard to complete the nomination for another historic district, the Pollard Historic District, and it is going to be submitted in July. And so we are on the heels of pushing that nomination through, and that’s really exciting.
We’re working on a coffee table book. It’s featuring a cross section of historic homes throughout Tyler. It’s five chapters, and each chapter represents a decade of historic homes. And then we’re still working on the Mayfair building.
Mike Landess: That’s out at the fairgrounds.
Ashley Washmon: It is on the fairgrounds. We’ve, been involved with that property since 2016, and the city is actually finishing the renovations for that property this summer.
And so they’re working on a national designation for that property. We’re working with the city on that. There’s always something new rolling across my desk and makes my job and organization exciting.
Mike Landess: Let me just go back and add one quick thing. Give us a quick explainer as to why the Pollard district is important.
Ashley Washmon: The Pollard district will be our seventh historic district in Tyler. It is a good representation of how the city developed in this area, and in particular has a rich mid-century modern, post-war architectural design houses.
Mike Landess: How many houses are involved in that?
Ashley Washmon: We’re actually right now determining the district boundaries, but as it sits right now, there’s about 1,300 houses within the district. It’s very large.
Mike Landess: That would be quite a home tour, wouldn’t it?
Ashley Washmon: That’s why it’s taken so long to secure the designation. There’s been a lot of photographs. And a lot of research done on this.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been Ashley Washmon, executive director of Historic Tyler. For more information on the Charnwood Historic Home Tour, you’ll find a link on our website, KVUT.org.
I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio 99.7 KVUT.