Works of art
In its 100 years of existence, the Jennie C. Casey House on Vinton Avenue has witnessed a lot of memories. Owners Alice and George Burruss can account for the last 26 years’ worth.
“The kids had fun playing hide and seek in here,” said Alice Burruss of the 1912 arts and crafts-style house. “And they had fun sliding down the stairway.”
The house is one of six homes being featured in the 36th annual Central Gardens Home Tour, which takes place Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the event.
Tickets can be purchased at the door of any house on the tour. They are: 267 S. Belvedere, 1649 Central, 1449 and 1542 Harbert, 1962 Peabody and the Burruss home at 1555 Vinton.
Alice Burruss said the striking architecture and charming nooks and crannies of the Casey House made for a unique family experience.
“Christmas here was always fun, decorating for it,” she said. “There’s a fireplace upstairs, and my daughter had her room at the top of the stairs. She made us move her to a different room because she was always afraid someone was going to come down the chimney who wasn’t Santa Claus.”
The Burruss family is one in a line of owners who have worked to maintain the integrity of the house, as well as its most noteworthy original features. Among them are intricate art glass windows in the stairwell and working art nouveau light fixtures that top the newel posts on the landing.
Marsha Hayes, co-chairwoman of the event along with Sharon Burch, said the six homes on the tour were all architect-designed during an era “when a home really was an art form.”
“They’ve been beautifully taken care of and restored,” Hayes said. “But they’re livable by today’s standards. Certainly, I don’t think anyone wants to live in a house with a 1912 kitchen.”
In the Jennie C. Casey home, renovations through the years have remained true to the original architecture. In 2006, the Burrusses updated the kitchen, knocking out a wall between the kitchen and den to open up the space.
“We spent most of our time back in the kitchen and den, yet I never liked it,” Burruss said. “It was very dark. Ever since we knocked that wall out and redid it, it’s made me love the house completely.”
The family has furnished the home over time using family heirlooms and pieces that complement the style of the century-old house.
Along with the Burruss home, the house at 1449 Harbert also celebrates its 100th birthday this year. In fact, all homes being showcased in this year’s event are at least a century old. The homes represent a variety of architectural styles, but a common thread among them is that each house was photographed in 1912 for an “Art Work of Memphis” portfolio by the Gravure Studio in Chicago.
Photographs of 41 Central Gardens homes, including the homes on the tour, taken in 1912 by Gravure Studio will be exhibited during the tour in the University Club ballroom, 1346 Central.
“We are a very eclectic, architecturally speaking, neighborhood,” Hayes said of Central Gardens. “That is a strong point, because every house doesn’t look alike. Every house is not English Tudor or arts and crafts or colonial revival. It’s the mixture that leads to a beautiful neighborhood.”
Homes on the tour, in fact, range from craftsman to neoclassical to mission style. The neoclassical house on Peabody has special significance to the tour, primarily thanks to its notable former owner.
“One of the highlights of this year’s tour is that the E.H. Crump Home on Peabody will be open to the public for the first time,” said Elise Frick, tour publicity chairwoman. “It has never been on the Central Gardens Home Tour.”
She said the tour — which had a write-up in the fall 2012 edition of Style 1900, a national arts and crafts specialty publication — draws visitors from across the region.
“It will have a nice financial impact on Memphis,” she said. “It also promotes what we call ‘heritage tourism.’ And heritage tourism is definitely on the rise, meaning that people are going to destinations specifically to learn about the history and heritage of different areas.”
Visitors to this year’s tour, she said, will see homes noteworthy not only because they’ve survived the past century, but also because each house is architecturally significant.
“They just don’t build them like they used to,” she said. “You’re going to see some of the finest quality of wood and workmanship. And there are also stories to be told. Each home has a different story.” her with gardening questions at mary@rootsmemphis.org.