Heritage Home Association of Tuscarawas County featured a variety of homes on tour
By Kyle Valentini
December 12, 2011
593
When decking the halls with boughs of holly, these local homeowners went above and beyond for the annual Christmas Tour of Homes sponsored by the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association (TCHHA) on Sunday, Dec. 11.
The association has been sponsoring the popular holiday tradition for the last three years. This years tour included nine homes and one church.
The homes range in age from historic 1830s Greek Revival to a newly remodeled barn that was converted into an open concept home in 2006, said Patti Strickling, co-chair for the event. Every year we try to have different homes and it is so exciting to see that each home is unique and special in its own way. Sometimes the home that looks small or plain on the outside has an unbelievable tale to tell on the inside.
The self-guided tour began with the Richard Burrell House, located at 2740 N. Wooster Ave. at Dover. Currently owned by Jeff and Susan Miller, the home has been painstakingly restored over the course of three years.
Once the farmhouse to the 158-acre Burrell farm, the stately brick structure sits atop a sandstone foundation put in place with ropes and pulleys.
The Millers are well-versed in the history of the house that was once home to the Schneider family, for which Schneiders Crossing, a bridge spanning the Sugar Creek on Ohio Avenue, is named.
The Hardesty House, at 530 N. Wooster Ave., Dover, has been in the Hardesty family since 1879. The home was built in 1855 and purchased by Alonzo and Mary Baker Hardesty.
Alonzo Hardesty, along with his brother, William, owned Hardesty Flour Mills at Dover, the third largest flour mill in the nation at the time, as well as the Hardesty Manufacturing Company, which created the sideboard that still remains in the formal dining room of the nearly 3,000-square-foot home.
Currently under the care of Allison Hardesty Bechtol and her husband, Lee Bechtol, the home is being restored into a bed and breakfast.
The piano was purchased in 1884 by my great-grandmother. She bought it in New York City and had it delivered by train to Ohio. It was brought to the house by horse-drawn cart and it has been here ever since, said Allison Hardesty Bechtol.
The home of John and Linda Welfley, at 2960 Boltz Road SE at New Philadelphia, wasnt a home at all until the couple took on the monumental task of converting the 1930s era post and beam barn into their home.
From the moment we saw the place we knew this would be the kitchen and this would be the living room and the bedrooms would be over there, said John Welfley as he excitedly spoke about the structure that he now calls home.
Complete with a rock climbing wall in the living room and plenty of room for the old trunks, wagons and Raggedy Ann and Andy collections, the Welfleys have a truly unique home that remains a work in progress.
The main challenge this year was trying to gather homes into sections. It is a lot easier for people to go to one neighborhood and see several homes together instead of going to all separate destinations and directions for each home. We tried to not spread the houses out so much, said Strickling.
More than 500 visitors toured the homes in Dover, New Philadelphia and Uhrichsville, lavishly decorated for the Christmas season, and the Sharon Moravian Church at New Philadelphia.
TCHHA will be focusing their attention on the spring and summer fundraisers in the coming months, with a plant sale in May and a garden tour in July. Those interested in having their gardens included in the upcoming tour can contact the TCHHA via email at president@tuschha.org.
