TIME FOUR A TOUR: Historic New Albany homes and buildings to be on display next week

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A view from the front of the Oliver and “Bunny” Hammer House at 1316 Ridgeway Ave. in Silver Hills, which will be featured during the Sept. 8 New Albany Historic Home Tour. Staff photo by Daniel Suddeath
A view from the rear of the historic Anson W. Banes House at 1523 E. Elm St. The house was recently refurbished through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Staff photo by Daniel Suddeath.
One of the original fireplaces inside the historic 1523 Elm St. home in New Albany, which will be featured on the New Albany Historic Home Tour. Staff photo by Daniel Suddeath

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September 2, 2012

TIME FOUR A TOUR: Historic New Albany homes and buildings to be on display next week

By DANIEL SUDDEATH daniel.suddeath@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Sun Sep 02, 2012, 06:27 AM EDT

NEW ALBANY — Meticulous landscaping and vibrant colors provide a welcoming view from the street outside the Oliver and “Bunny” Hammer House, as the plush lawn could fool a passer-by into believing New Albany hasn’t been grasped by severe drought this summer.

Walking inside the 1950s home, located at 1316 Ridgeway Ave., the treasures and artistic designs of the building and the features within it come to life.

Being a tall man, Kent Epler was unsure if the house was the right fit for him, literally. But that was until he toured the historic home, and discovered that what he thought was a breezeway was really the selling point of the house.

A large cabin room, infiltrated with natural light and donning a sizable chandelier made of Venetian crystal, is where homeowners Epler and Rick Milburn enjoy hosting friends and spending their down time.

“We kept this to be our hidden surprise,” Epler said. “It’s just where everybody gathers.”

But next Saturday, Sept. 8, Epler and Milburn want to let everybody in on the secret gem that is the cabin room, as well as the other features of their house. It will be one of eight buildings featured on the seventh-annual New Albany Historic Homes Tour.

From art and figurines to furniture and home accessories, Epler and Milburn are quite skilled at creating and restoring, and it’s evident by the personal touches they’ve left on their home.

“It was a Cape Cod house, and we sort of transformed it into our style,” Epler said, in reference to the Cape Cod architectural style of the home.

It was built in 1950 for Oliver and Helen “Bunny” Hammer, and the house plan was taken from an issue of the magazine Better Homes and Gardens. It features original clapboard siding and wood work, as well as oak and peg flooring on the first level. It has numerous, spacious closets and built-in bookcases.

Epler praised how well the Silver Hills house was built, and said that’s not always the case for newer homes.

“The standards of construction now are almost not even half of what they were 100 years ago,” he said.

Down the hill in downtown New Albany sits an historic house with modern touches that will also be a part of the tour. Located at 1523 E. Elm St., the Anson W. Banes House was completed around 1880.

Anson likely constructed the house, and he was the son and the nephew of the noted Banes builders, James and William Banes.

The Banes brother constructed multiple mansions in New Albany, including the historic Culbertson Mansion.

The Elm Street house stayed in the Banes family until 1959. Recently, it was targeted in the $6.7 million Midtown Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was funded through the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

Debora Henry purchased the home, as she credited local Realtors and residents Warren Nash and Peggy Der Ohanian for bringing the house to her attention.

“I love everything about it, the charm of it,” Henry said of her home. “I just get so excited — I love this house so much.”

Though it includes new features, there’s plenty of historic appeal left in the house. There’s multiple original fireplaces in the house, as well as original tile and restored wood clapboard siding inside the home, which has tall ceilings and a screened back porch.

“To me, a little house like this, a shotgun house, is just as important as the Culbertson Mansion, because it tells the history of New Albany,” said David Barksdale, Floyd County Historian and one of the organizers of the annual home tour.

Last year, about 500 people purchased tickets for the event, which benefits local preservation efforts. Barksdale said hopefully the tour will garner that many participants again this year.

In its seventh year, the self-guided tour has yet to repeat any of the houses. But that may change next year for the city’s 200th anniversary, Barksdale hinted.

“I think we will probably want to invite a couple of the duplicates back on for a bicentennial home tour,” he said.

Some of the other buildings to be featured include the Professor Ira G. Strunk House at 1310 Ridgeway Ave., the Margaret Dunbar House at 1528 E. Oak St. and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building at the intersection of Bank and Market streets.

Tickets for the event are $15 in advance, $5 for children and $20 on the day of the tour. They can be purchased today at the downtown New Albany Farmers Market, as well as the Gallery on Pearl, River City Winery, and online at www.developna.org

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TIME FOUR A TOUR: Historic New Albany homes and buildings to be on display next week

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