Mobile Historic Homes Tour
Our doors are always open to you!
The 2010 Mobile Historic Homes Tours takes you to the elegant Ashland Place Historic District. Nestled in the heart of mid-town Mobile you will tour six homes that are rarely open to the public. The homes on the tour range from a grand 1908 Georgian Revival to a lovely raised 1950s home. The focus of this year's tour will be on how contemporary families live in homes in Mobile's historic districts. The Oakleigh Historic Complex and Ashland Place United Methodist Church will also be open as part of the tour.
Homes on the Tour
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2254 DeLeon Avenue
1908 Georgian Revival style home designed by notable Mobile architect George B. Rogers for the Waterman family. The home features beautiful leaded glass windows, extraordinary millwork, and is situated on one of the highest points in Ashland Place. Homeowners – Theresa and Ian Whelan. |
2256 DeLeon Avenue
1938 home designed by architect Harry Inge Johnstone in the Monterey style. Listed among the building materials used are solid Oregon cedar boards for the exterior siding, hardwood floors milled by McPhillips Manufacturing, and working blinds made of solid cyprus. Homeowners – Mary and Richard Taylor. |
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216 LeVert Avenue
Magnificant example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Built in 1925. Homeowners – Murlene and Raymond Clark. |
211 LeVert Avenue
Tudor Revival style home built in 1928 for cotton dealer Frank C. Anderson. The original cost of the lot was $4,800. Homeowners – Gwen and Bill Roedder. |
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207 LeVert Avenue
1950's raised French Creole style cottage. Of special note, you enter the home on the second floor, where the public rooms are located. The private living spaces are on the ground floor. Homeowners – Amy and Wes Pipes. |
107 Ryan Avenue
Craftsman style bungalow constructed in 1921 for Alan C. Denby, a salesman at Turner Supply. Home features a brand new addition. Homeowners – Allison and John Peebles. |
About the Ashland Place Historic District
Ashland Place Historic District is recognized as one of Mobile's first post-Victorian suburbs. The development was settled in 1908 as an early streetcar suburb along the Springhill Avenue trolley line. The neighborhood took its name from a 1844 raised cottage known as Ashland. The home, which was destroyed by fire, was owned by Lorenzo M. Wilson, father of famed Mobile author, Augusta Evans Wilson. The steps of the home can still be seen in Ashland Place.
The developers of Ashland Place were the first in Mobile to embrace the "City Beautiful" concept. They planned the subdivision with large lots, an irregular grid plan, wide streets with concrete curbs and sidewalks, and entrance gates; all characteristics of this popular movement. The homes represent popular design styles that reflect national taste during the early 1900s, including various combinations of Federal, Georgian, and Colonial Revivals, Classic Revival, Craftsman, Tudor and English Period Revivals, Mission Revival, and suburban Ranch. Many of the homes were designed by George B. Rogers and Clarence L. Hutchisson, Sr., two of Mobile's most celebrated architects.
The first residents of Ashland Place were Mobile's lumber barons, captains of industry, and civic leaders. Many of these founding families still reside in Ashland Place 100 year's later. Today, Ashland Place contains 81 primary structures covering approximately 40 acres. This year's tour will focus on how modern families live in some of our most beloved historic homes. The Ashland Place tour will showcase how this planned subdivision of the early 1900s is still a viable and walkable neighborhood using today's green movement philosophy as the backbone of its design.
In 1987 the Ashland Place Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The area is roughly bounded by Springhill Avenue, Ryan Avenue, Old Shell Road, and Levert Avenue.
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