Home tour to feature historic New Albany buildings

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Sep. 5—An upcoming tour will give people the chance to see inside of historic homes and buildings in New Albany.

Develop New Albany and Indiana Landmarks are presenting the 15th annual Historic Home Tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The ticketed, self-guided event will allow people to visit 11 buildings throughout the city.

Attendees will pick up a booklet before 3 p.m. at the New Albany Farmers Market, located at the corner of Bank and Market streets, to begin their tour. As they visit each building, they will learn about its history and the story behind its renovation.

The tour was canceled the past couple years due to the pandemic. Dave Barksdale, Floyd County historian and event organizer, said he enjoys highlighting homes throughout New Albany's historic neighborhoods, whether they are downtown or on Ekin Avenue.

"It just brings a lot of attention to our city and all the progress that we've made in the historical preservation of our buildings," Barksdale said.

Some of the buildings on the tour are traditional houses, while others are residential lofts on upper floors of downtown buildings. Barksdale said. The tour includes apartments located above Him & Her Boutique on Pearl Street and above New Washington State Bank on the corner of Pearl and Market streets.

The home of Jeanne and Rob Schettler at 1840 Ekin Ave. is one of the houses on the tour. The couple bought the house three years ago, and they have completed extensive renovations over the past few years. The house was likely built in 1912.

The project involved a major transformation both inside and out to beautify and update the historic home, which is a Craftsman-style house with a wraparound porch.

"It needed a lot of work," Jeanne said. "It never had central air. All of the windows were original, and the roof was leaking upstairs. So we've done a whole lot to it, and we're super proud of it. We've always wanted to get an old house and rehab it, and it's been a three-year labor of love."

At the home tour, the Schettlers will display photos of what the house looked like before the renovation.

"It's been a lot of work, and a lot of people stop and say, thanks for fixing it up, you've done a great job," Jeanne said.

Although the tour mostly includes residential properties, it also features the New Albany City Hall and Town Clock Church. The new city hall opened in 2021 after significant renovations to the mid-19th century building on Main Street, which once housed businesses such as Reisz Furniture.

Although the tour usually features a different set of properties each year, an exception has been made for the Town Clock Church, which has gone through a number of renovations since it was last featured on the home tour. This includes the building of a garden in the back of the church and the addition of a replica steeple and a gasolier, Barksdale said.

The Main Street church, also known as Second Baptist Church, was completed in 1852. The building served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Barksdale has been spreading the word about the upcoming tour at the New Albany Farmers Market in recent weeks.

"We have a picture board with some of the houses, and people always stop by and say, 'I've always wanted to see inside of that house,'" Barksdale said. "It's kind of intriguing to see the pictures, and (the tour) may be their only opportunity to see inside some of these homes."