The Old West Side Homes Tour
From 1973 to 2019, with one exception, the Old West Side Association organized an annual tour of homes in the Old West Side neighborhood, generally held from 12:00-5:00 on the third Sunday in September. Typically, the tour included five homes and one local business. The tour was labor-intensive, requiring a strong group of volunteers, but also very rewarding. Work began in January with scouting properties and ended in early October with a post-tour review and notes for the next year. Although committee service was a significant commitment, it was also fun. For design geeks, it was a chance to visit and learn about homes in the Old West Side. For those drawn to local history, it was a chance to dig deeper. For all committee members, it was an opportunity to create an event that generated community solidarity and was deeply meaningful to the neighborhood.
The Homes Tour Planning Committee took charge of identifying potential properties, inviting the property owners to consider participating, and sending a group of two-three committee members to tour properties along with the owner(s). Sometimes, committee members stayed in touch with homeowners over time, until both the owners and committee members felt the home was ready. After viewing a number of properties, the committee selected six they hoped to include in the tour. In making the selection, committee members considered:
Readiness for the tour,
Having homes that reflected a diversity of building types and a range of approaches to preserving, renovating or remodeling, and furnishing,
Choosing a business that could accommodate visitors, and
A walkable tour route.
Once participants were identified and had consented, there were many more steps:
Often, owners had a list of updates they wanted to complete.
Local businesses were invited to sponsor the tour.
Historian Grace Shackman researched the history of each property, and wrote a summary for use in publicizing the tour.
A committee member walked through each property with an owner, gathering information about things in the home, like art, collections, family heirlooms, or travel souvenirs, that would be interesting to the public and was then provided to docents. The walk-through also included a safety check.
Each property owner was asked to recruit friends or family members to serve as hosts, or docents, two shifts per home, in order to both keep the tour engaging and attend to safety and security. If more docents were needed, the Planning Committee also recruited. Docents were each given a free ticket. We designated a head host for each property who stayed in touch with owners and volunteer hosts.
The planning committee and other volunteers developed a map of the tour route, secured a bus for the day of the tour, and devoted a lot of attention to publicity.
They created tickets and made provisions to sell them in advance.
They designated a tour “hub” along the tour route where volunteers sold tickets, cider and donuts.
They organized a meeting with the owners and the head hosts for each property about 10 days before the tour to thank them and to make sure we had clear communications.
The list may sound daunting, but we pulled it off 46 times and had a good time doing it. Technological advances will make some tasks easier. New committee members will find their own, innovative ways to create and manage the tour. And the neighborhood will be grateful. Thank you for considering whether this is a volunteer opportunity you could be excited about. Please email oldwestsidea2@gmail.com to let us know you’re interested.
