2023 Abingdon Historic Homes Tour
Abingdon Historic Homes Tour
Saturday, July 29, 10am-4pm Tickets: $25 Downtown Abingdon
Abingdon prides itself on its well-preserved downtown historic district and its commitment to historic preservation. Tour the interiors of a variety of the best preserved Federal, Victorian, and early 20th century houses and buildings in Virginia, all within walking distance downtown.
Tour the houses of perhaps the wealthiest man in the United States in 1810, a 19th-century hotel converted into an elegant home, a structure that was once just rotting, bare timbers that has been restored to an elegant home today.
Ticket Purchasing Options
Purchase tickets online
Shady Business during the month of July (180 East Main St.).
Also available day of the tour at 262 Bradley St. or at Shady Business.
*Even if you have purchased a ticket online, you must pick up the printed house guide and
map to the houses at Shady Business or 262 Bradley Street day of the tour.
262 Bradley Street
This house was built in 1908 by the Bradley family, who were prominent in the lumber business and is an example of the distinguished homes built on Bradley Street at that time. The Edwardian-style home was structurally built with ash, likely brought to town along the Virginia Creeper Railroad. It has seven fireplaces and unique oak paneling and pocket doors in the dining room. Other former owners of the house include Judge Potts and his wife, who taught many Abingdon children to play the piano. Since 1994, the home has been owned by Rick Rose and Amanda Aldridge.
107 Park Street
Susan and Rick Humphreys have restored this 1834 structure, which was owned by several people in the 19th century, most prominently by Thomas Johnston, a well-known portrait painter. An empty, abandoned, and derelict property before the restoration, many of its architectural features were found and carefully brought back to life. Interesting aspects are its restored front porch, original basement kitchen, stone foundation, and clapboard siding. The Humphreys added an ell to the rear. For a while they operated it as a B&B, the Black Dog Inn.
124 East Main St.
This grey stone church, St. Thomas Episcopal church, was built in 1925 following a devastating fire the previous year that destroyed the earlier church. The original frame church was built in 1846 as part of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Of particular interest are the altar, organ, and artwork throughout the sanctuary, including the painting of Christ over the altar. The twenty-two “Life of Christ” icons throughout the sanctuary were painted (or written) by Mary Jane Miller, an Abingdon artist, now living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
133 East Main Street
This brick townhouse, known as Marcella, was built in 1845 by the Rev. Phillip Rohr, a Methodist minister. The original house consisted of two rooms downstairs and two above. Its later additions to the rear added additional rooms, including a kitchen and dining room. Though built as a home, over the years it was also used for businesses, including a hat shop, a doctor’s office, and the Town Library. In the early 1980s, it was purchased and fully restored by Anne and Gene Worrell. It is currently the home of Betsy and Ramsey White
170 East Main St.
Two buildings were on this site before the current brick storehouse was built by Minter Jackson in 1886. It was Washington Hardware for a few years before it became the Abingdon Dispensary for selling bottled alcoholic beverages in 1906, following the closing of saloons in the area. From 1922 until recently it was a newspaper office for the Abingdon-Virginian. It briefly was a movie (Star) museum, before being bought in 2014 and restored in 2016 by Jill and David Dalton. On the first floor is currently a restaurant, White Birch. The restored furnished apartments on the second and third floors will be open for viewing.
224 Oak Hill Street
Frank A. Parker, a traveling salesman for Holston Woolen Mills, settled in Abingdon in 1892, opened a grocery store, and built this Victorian house. Mrs. Parker ran a boarding house after her husband’s death. For much of the 20th century, the house was owned by William and Blanche Grant Webb, and then their daughter Lucille Webb, an instructor at Emory & Henry College. Since the 1980s the house has gone through several owners who ran the house as a bed and breakfast. It is currently a private residence owned by Leslie and Josh Cumbow.
228 East Main St.
During the 1780s, this lot housed a dwelling, a log tavern, and then an ordinary, run by Fincastle Sterrett, an emancipated slave once owned by William King. The Washington House, Abingdon’s first hotel, was built in 1835 by Thomas Findlay, serving stagecoach and other business travelers, as well as housing professional offices. During the early 20th century, a meat market and a hat shop were located on the first level. It is currently owned by Byrum Geisler, who fully restored and renovated it to include his residence on the upper floors and two businesses on the ground level.
208 West Main Street
James Fields, a building contractor who also operated a brick kiln and factory, built the house in 1858. The house has an attractive blend of Greek revival details, such as the horizontal lintels above the windows and the side-and-transom light doorway, and the Italianate features, such as the shallow-hipped roof and the deeply bracketed cornice. A second owner was George E. Penn, who came to Abingdon from Danville as a tobacco merchant, but later became a lawyer. The Town of Abingdon has recently done extensive renovations and opened the house as the town’s Visitors Center.
150 West Main Street
For the first time in a generation, there will be guided tours of the Martha Washington Inn & Spa during the annual Abingdon Historic Homes tour. Preston Hall was originally built in 1832 by General Francis Preston, who in addition to a military career, served in Congress and the Virginia General Assembly. Mrs. Preston was the niece of Patrick Henry. The original home consisted of two stories over an English basement. The original house had a low-hipped roof and dormer windows and was capped with a widow’s walk and balustrade. The original octagonal shape created by the east and west wings reflected the Federal style’s fondness for shapes other than square or rectangular. It was the grandest house in western Virginia when it was built.
In the 1850s it became an upscale girls’ school, Martha Washington College, affiliated with the Methodist Church. As a college, many modifications had to be made. The college struggled during the Great Depression and had to close in 1932. Falling into neglect and disrepair, the building housed Barter actors until it made a transition to a hotel in the late 1930s. It has been extensively renovated and has changed ownership several times until today it is the Martha Washington Inn & Spa, one of a select few 4-Diamond hotels in Virginia. Guided tours of many lavishly furnished public and private rooms and exterior features of the Inn will be every 30 minutes, beginning at 10:30am. Each group will consist of approximately 15 people. Visitors check in and gather on the front porch. There will be refreshments on the porch all day long provided by the Inn.
