Michael Bushnell
Reporter

After a three year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood is hosting its Holiday Homes Tour this Saturday, December 9th from 11am to 4pm. This year, seven historic homes will be open on the tour along with some bonus tour stops that aren’t listed in the official tour brochure.

Featured in this year’s tour are five homes within walking distance of each other just off the intersection of Pendleton and Garfield Avenues on the north side of Lexington Avenue.

Included in that group of homes are the stunning Flavel B. Tiffany Castle at 100 Garfield, the August P. Marty home at 1841 Pendleton Ave., and the Philip E. Chapel residence at 1840 Pendleton Avenue built in 1888.

A restoration success story in and of itself, the Chapel home fell victim to a fire that destroyed portions of the back side of the house in early 2019. When on tour in 2019, tour guests got to see the home immediately after the fire and all the ensuing damage. Now, according to Tour Co-chair Emily Reeves, guests will get to see the painstaking restoration work that the homeowners have completed. “The house has such a compelling story,” Reeves said. “We’re just really excited to include it on the tour this year.”

An anomaly on this year’s tour is the mid-century modern home at 1844 Pendleton Avenue that has an interesting history with some alleged Kansas City mob ties. We won’t offer any spoilers here so you’ll have to take the tour to find out all the juicy details.

The second group of tour homes is located south of Lexington Avenue on Garfield, each with its own unique history. First up is what was originally a “stack-duplex” at 350 Garfield. The present homeowners purchased the home and have done a stunning restoration/renovation into a single family residence. A bonus stop on the tour is the unique store-front carriage house behind the home that has been completely renovated as well.

Another tour repeat home is 508 Garfield, arguably one of the more famous homes on the tour, given it has at least seven “twins” scattered across the country. The home was model home in a Victorian Age house catalog and plans were available to purchase so homeowners could construct their own Queen-Anne style home. The home has been a labor of love for the present homeowner who has painstakingly and single-handedly brought the house back from the city’s demolition list.

Also on tour day, PH Coffee will be offering specials throughout the day and according to Reeves, there will be something for kids on the tour as well. “We’ve hidden seven Grinch ornaments, one in each one of the tour homes,” Reeves said. “Whoever finds the ornaments in each of the houses will get a free cookie at PH Coffee.”

Each of the tour homes will be festively decorated for the holidays. Advance tour tickets are $20 and are available at phkc.org.