Preservation Austin tour turns to gardens
Saturday’s fundraiser will focus on several historical landmarks.
Each year, Preservation Austin, formerly the Heritage Society of Austin, chooses a neighborhood to highlight the city’s history in its annual Heritage Homes Tour. This Saturday, instead of a neighborhood, the group will open up six historical homes that also have beautiful gardens. On the tour this year: The Academy, 400 Academy Drive. This 1889 home is a Texas historical landmark, part of the National Register of Historic Places and a city historical landmark. It was built for the president of Austin Water, Light & Power Co. and was once the home of a Texas Supreme Court justice. It’s called the Academy for when it was the home of the Austin Military School in the 1920s. You can read more about this home and the preservation that has gone into it in this month’s Real magazine, statesman.com/real.
The Brunson House, 200 The Circle. This home, estimated to have been built around 1917, is a classic bungalow in the Fairview neighborhood. It’s a city of Austin historical landmark.
Boggy Creek Farm, 3414 Lyons Road. Built by James Smith sometime around 1840
or 1841, the house is an enclosed dogtrot style. Its exterior is cypress or pine with square nails. Now it’s home to a farm that grows everything from figs to eggplant, Brussels sprouts to melons.
Dill-White House, 1110 E. 10th St. This 1893 Victorian Cottage was originally owned by a family that made the canvas for buggies and later automobiles. The city historical landmark home was restored in the early 1990s after being divided into apartments.
Wells-LaRue House, 4524 Avenue F. This 1850built home was designed by architect Abner Cook and is a Texas state and city of Austin historical landmark.
The Hackett House, 102 W. 33rd St. This 1923 home sits in the North University neighborhood.
The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $28 for adults, $23 for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available at www.preservationaustin.org and at Breed & Co. (both locations), Zinger Hardware and Tarrytown Pharmacy. Tickets also are available on Saturday at all featured homes.
Find more information at www.preservationaustin.org.