Submitted by Pauline Anders

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The 11th annual Fairhope Historic Homes Tour, which features five homes, will be held on Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, from Page and Palette or most Fairhope bank branches, or $15 the day of the tour. The homes features on this year’s tour are:

• 601 N. Mobile, Carrie and David Dortch;

• 54 Fairhope Ave., Mrs. Mary Kathryn Black;

• 653 Fairhope Ave., Ross and Julia Hobbs;

• 16943B County Road 3 (South Section Street), John & Ginny Stimpson; and

• Lagniappe: Hollis and Teko Wiseman, 619 N. Mobile St.

Refreshments will be provided by the Wisteria Garden Club at the Hobbs home.

The home of Carrie and David Dortch at 601 N. Mobile St., was built just two years after the original settlers arrived to Fairhope. It was known as the Volanta Hotel.

The porch originally wrapped three quarters of the way around for many to be able to capture the bay breezes. The house passed through several owners and finally ended up as a VFW headquarters and was home to many a fish fry and good time.

Just over 20 years ago, Rene Mashburn, owner of Green Gates bought and painstakingly restored the house. She began by putting the stairs back to their original position and moved the kitchen from what is now the guest bedroom to the back porch. Mashburn opened up the original structure and filled it with light by making the kitchen double height. Throughout the house, Mashburn worked hard to save the original pine floors, beadboard and doors where she could.

Later, Mashburn sold the house to the Dortches, who added their own special touches by adding working shutters to the windows, replacing the fireplace hearth and mantle and adding beadboard to the bathroom as well as painting the home in historical colors. The Dortches also redesigned the garden adding many native plants and a water feature. Recently featured in Mobile Bay Monthly, this house is an excellent example of how with a little ingenuity, one can revive and old structure and make it work today.

The adorable Spanish Revival house at 54 Fairhope Ave. is the home of Mrs. Mary Kathryn Black. It was built by Dyson and Co. in 1927 out of locally manufactured Clay City Tile.

The Black’s purchased the one-bedroom cottage in 1987 and took it back to its bones including a tedious recreation of the arches on the front of the house. The couple changed very little of the floor plan by adding on to the back of the original structure, which ended at the kitchen. They created a vestibule that leads to the master suite and a keeping room which houses Mr. Black’s collection of commercial china. The skylight in the hallway gives light to an otherwise dead space and is a nice segway to the new space. Originally from Chicago, Mrs. Black is well versed in Mission-style architecture and employed many of its elements in the bedroom addition. Situated overlooking Stacks gully, which underwent a $5 million restoration last year, this special home was ensured its bird's eye view of the bay for years to come.

Anyone driving down Fairhope Avenue recently is bound to have noticed the beauty at 653 Fairhope Ave., home of Ross and Julia Hobbs.

Known as “Frog Hill” to the Hobbs’ close friends and family, this Craftsman-style bungalow still retains its original stucco. Built around the 1930s, this lovely cottage was originally a four-room house. The Hobbs purchased the home for their retirement in 2004, moving from a larger home in Selma, Ala. A previous owner had added the master suite and converted the attic into a bedroom.

The Hobbs also added the wrap-around porch and created a summer kitchen outside to allow more space for entertaining. The v-groove oak ceilings are probably original to the house as well as many of the beadboard walls.

The Hobbs have a fine collection of mostly 19th century antiques, which includes a spinning wheel belonging to their family. An avid gardener, Mr. Hobbs has created an oasis on a hot summer’s day with plenty of shade and verdant greens highlighted by a multitude of blooming plants. This cozy home is in perfect proportion to its lot yet lives large with the wise addition and use of outdoor space.

The Wisteria Garden Club will serve refreshments at the Hobbs home.

Thought to be one of the oldest homes in Fairhope, 16943B County Road 3 (South Section Street), the lovely cottage of John and Ginny Stimpson was originally on Greeno Road.

A very simple structure with several lean-tos abutting it, the house had a particular charm to Peter and Mary Louise Herndon who moved the structure to its present location and lovingly restored it. They were able to keep all of the original pine floors and all but one of the five paneled cypress doors. The couple modernized the house by adding on a double height living room, master bedroom and installing a kitchen that was previously housed in the aforementioned lean-to.

About five years ago, the Stimpsons purchased and further renovated the house, continuing in the Creole cottage style. Keeping with that, John Stimpson, a lumberman, milled his own Shiplap siding for the addition. They also added beadboard to the living room ceiling, heart pine flooring, a butler’s pantry and a brickfloored breakfast room and the upstairs bedroom to accommodate their three boys.

Because these two families appreciated the original structure, this wonderful cottage has spent over a century as a family home.

The Fairhope Historic Homes Tour likes to include four historic homes each year, and then to throw in a little extra. This year that lagniappe is a new home.

A complete departure from an old home, the home of Hollis and Teko Wiseman is a study in modernity. From its stuccoed façade to its store front windows and curved walls, this home exudes personality.

The Wisemans built this home about 15 years ago after they regrettably had to tear down the older house they had enjoyed as a bay house with their six children. Rather than replicate the old house that they had loved so dearly, the Wisemans decided to do something modern.

They hired an architect to design it, and gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted with one caveat: Every room had to have a bay view. So you’ll notice the library and guest bedroom both have interior windows that look over the living room and out to the bay. Filled with light, books, antiques and an array of rugs and tapestries, the Wiseman’s modern home feels warm and inviting.

Tickets are just $10 in advance or $15 the day of the tour, and each ticket entitles the holder to view all five houses. Tickets are available at Page and Palette, most area banks, and Green Gates Market before the tour. On the day of the tour, they may be purchased at any one of the tour. For more information please call Eve Doherty at 990-5746.

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