Home Tour Twenty-Four

The Home Tour in the Highlands of Edgewater proved to be a popular event this year, thanks to the wonderful neighborhood support and the help of the Northwest Edgewater Neighbors organization. This year we tried something new by offering a discounted membership to neighbors attending the tour. The attendance was 218. It was a lovely sunny day.

This tour was a special one because we had one historic home recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as an historic structure. That home, owned by the Bachrach family, was designed by architect Clarence Hatzfeld and remodeled by Edgewater architect A.E. Norman. Additionally we featured two other homes designed by A.E. Norman and also his family home on Granville. Our contact with the family brought many relatives of the Norman family from around the country together to enjoy the tour. This was brought about by research by Norman’s great grand daughter Chris Corcoran, who shared her research on the web.

Julie and Mike Studier showed their Clarence Hatzfeld home for the second time in an Edgewater Home Tour, for which we are grateful. Their home and the Bachrach home were owned at one time by the Rozek family. Some of their members attended the tour (see photo to the right).

Of special interest was the parsonage of the Eritrean Church, which is owned by James Huffer. It proved to be a special highlight of the tour with some musical surprises. The Edgewater Community Council hosted the refreshments at the Huffer residence.

We believe that this tour gave a wonderful presentation of the development of the Highland neighborhood. LeRoy Blommaert’s research showed the stages of development from the early Kransz-Weber homes on Granville to the two-flats, the single family homes by Hatzfeld and variety of homes by A.E. Norman, including a bungalow from the ’20s.

We cannot thank the home owners enough for their willingness to spend the day telling about their house and its history. They were assisted by an army of volunteer docents, who carefully guided so many visitors through the homes, although lines were sometimes forming outside. Our analysis of this situation prompted us to direct some tour attendees to start at the end of the tour and work backwards.

We also give thanks to the Eritrean Church of St. Mary for their generous opening of their doors for the pre-tour event and hosting the registration table all afternoon on Sunday. This twenty-fourth was outstanding and most memorable.