Quapaw Quarter area fan a natural to coordinate tour
Lawyer Chuck Cliett has an acute interest in historic places, mostly because he lives in one.
The 1905 Turner-Mann House he shares with husband Jay Barth in the Governor’s Mansion Historic District is a real showplace filled with antique furniture and artifacts, some of them politically oriented (Barth teaches politics at Hendrix College in Conway). The “Mann” part of the house’s name is George Mann, the first owner/occupant and the architect hired to design the state Capitol.
Cliett and Barth’s house was not built by Mann but by developer Sarah Turner, although Mann used some leftover materials from the Capitol’s construction to adorn an upstairs bathroom.
“I certainly appreciated and had an interest in old homes and preserving neighborhoods … but it wasn’t as much of an emphasis for me as when I started living in an older part of town,” says Cliett, 56.
His love of historic places eventually parlayed into a position as board president of the Quapaw Quarter Association. In addition, he’s chairman of the association’s 53rd annual Spring Tour of Homes, scheduled for Saturday and May 14. The tour features six historic properties on Arch, Gaines and State streets in the Governor’s Mansion Historic District.
Tours are 12:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. May 14. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 on site. Other events are being staged around the tours. All are welcome with this caveat: no high heels out of respect for the homeowners’ flooring.
The tour has been ongoing since 1963, although there were a few years it did not come to fruition, Cliett says.
“The reason behind the tour over its entire history has been to raise money for preservation organizations and to demonstrate the preservation mission,” he says. “If people are coming in to see homes that
have fallen into disrepair and are now restored and renovated, they see what living in a neighborhood with a lot of older homes is like. It recruits people to the neighborhood.”
Cliett’s house was on the home tour in 2011. A number of factors go into choosing the houses, he says. A mix of styles and ages is preferred. For instance, the association looks for newly refurbished houses that have not yet been open to the public. Two houses on tour this year — both on Gaines Street — fit that criteria. It takes a special homeowner to look at a property in decline and see the possibilities, Cliett says.
“They say, ‘We see something special here and what it needs to be,’” Cliett says of those brave individuals. Last year’s tour was in the Hillcrest Historic District. The Quapaw Quarter is generally defined as the oldest parts of the city. The association was founded in 1968, after the home tour started.
As patrons wander the halls of the tour houses, they’ll hear stories about the houses and their current owners from docents stationed throughout the property. Many owners have unique collections of art and other objects.
“There’s that added interest of getting a glimpse into the lives of the people there,” Cliett says. The tour is walkable, but trolleys also will be available to get people from house to house free of charge.
Setting up the home tour and scheduling the accompanying events is onerous work.
“Chuck is dedicated to ensuring the success of the tour,” says Patricia Blick, the association’s new executive director. “He was involved in reaching out to homeowners to select the houses, made site visits to inspect homes, identified house captains and recruited key committee heads for the tour’s many components.”
To say he is dedicated to the tour is an understatement, Blick adds.
“This is the first time I’ve been involved in the logistics of putting on the [tour], so I am reliant upon Chuck and the other tour veterans for guidance,” she says. “He has a calm and methodical approach to problems and challenges and is not easily daunted.”
Cliett and others started picking the houses last summer. Between then and now, he and Barth also served as co-chairmen of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s largest annual fundraiser, the Saints and Sinners gala. His day job is just as demanding. As a lawyer with Mitchell Williams, he counsels insurance companies and managed-care entities.
This year’s tour serves as more than just a visual representation of the area, it’s a psychological one, as well, Cliett says.
“People sometimes have negative connotations about the older parts of town, and [the tour] dispels the stereotypes.”