 Welcome to CCTV Channel 17's Live at 525, the Preservation Burlington Show. Preservation Burlington's a non-profit 501C3 organization, and our mission is to preserve and protect the historic architecture and livability of Burlington through education and advocacy. I'd like to thank everybody for tuning in. It's 427, 2023, you can see on the screen there. I think they'll bring up a phone number soon if you want to call in. It's old home week, I think. Leaves us back on the show with me again, co-hosting. Thank you. You're welcome. And Matt Viennes, our long-suffering Preservation Burlington Homes tour captain, extraordinaire, or leader, or... Superhero. Committee chair. Committee chair. Committee chair is joining us today. Do we want to do any housekeeping? Do we have some stuff coming up to talk about? I don't think so. I think things have been pretty quiet. We've been pretty occupied with the cathedral advocacy, or former cathedral. And there hasn't been much in between, or time in between. So home's tour is what we're really excited for. Because we're bringing it back for the first time in years, right? Yes, three years we've been without one. So this is the big year back. And we're looking forward to it. We're always stressed about the home's tour. We've forgotten in the past couple of years, right? We've forgotten how stressful it is. No, I've not forgotten. I know. I do want to say, well, anyway, invite people to call in. But so Matt, it really, it looked bad for a while. When we started talking about the home's tour again and trying to find homes and contacting people who, three years ago, were interested. And now, suddenly, we're not. And we just kept hitting wall after wall. And I want to say, three weeks ago, four weeks ago, you brought everybody in. Somehow, you wrangled all the homes. Yeah, magic, I guess. I don't know. But yeah, you're right. When COVID hit, we were partway into getting our lineup for the 2020 tour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we had some folks who had already confirmed and some others who we were hoping to confirm and then we had to cancel it. And so the following year, we thought, hmm, dare we try it again? And we kind of knew early on that that was not possible. So we delayed it yet another year. And did we do it another year? Yeah, yeah, it was tough decisions, right? Yeah, that second year I remember because we were like, you know, things were still a little bit crazy and we were expecting a surge. And you know, it's almost post-traumatic stress to talk about it even for me. You know, I'm like remembering it back. It seems so far ago, so long ago now, you know. And then it was like 2022 where we really thought we might be able to do it. But it was still enough comfort on this. Yeah, there were things with vaccinations going on. And you know, the thing with the Homes Tour is that you're talking, even though a lot of people are outside in between the homes, we're talking about around 400 people congregating closely together sometimes in lines and then inside people's homes. And it's a little, it's a tough sell to argue even when you have a waning pandemic. Right, right. There's always, there's been so much uncertainty from like month to month to month, right? Like, remember we were first washing our groceries and I'm leaving them outside and people didn't, does it stick to surfaces? Does it not? And so people, I can understand, were really reluctant to have people come inside their spaces. Yeah, definitely. But as you were saying, we did have some people kind of slated for that tour. We were hopeful that we'd go back to them three years later and they would be willing to pick right up when things left off. But wasn't the case. We have one holdover, which is great. A very dedicated gentleman in the North Avenue who has a fantastic garden and a very eclectic, interesting interior of his home. What style house is it? Well, you know, that's a good question because I inquired of some of our experts on the board what style that house is. And so it's a property. It's not one of Burlington's older homes, but it that way. It was, I built around 1950, we believe, and unfortunately the folks who looked at the home couldn't give me an exact style. So it's not mid-century modern. Well, it had some elements of mid-century modern. I think I mentioned the owner said something about kind of Bauhaus influenced and then folks said, well, probably not so much. So it's like a local interpretation of the style. Yeah, it's... True, that happens, right? And I think it's a home that had been altered over the years, even though it's not that old. Had a very, I did see a photograph of it from shortly after it was built and it had a very modern look to it. And then subsequent owners added some green shutters and various elements that probably were not appropriate. Which was intended for the style of the house. So it's kind of a mishmash. Yeah, you said eclectic, so it sounds like... Yeah, it sounds like one house. Yeah, people love that kind of interesting and it tells a story, right? Oh, it does, yeah. And the owner is a real character, so folks are gonna... No doubt, enjoy that. This home has actually already been on the Flynn Homes Tour before for the... The Garden Tour. The Garden Tour, the Flynn Garden Tour. So the garden is exceptional. And as folks who have been on the Homes Tour before know, we love to have gardens as well. So it's one thing to have a fantastic house, but if you can attach a garden to it, we really love it. If you can add on to that a fantastic view of the lake, then we're even happy. Winner, yeah, I got a winner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which we've had some of us. It reminds me of... Every time we say the word Homes Tour and eclectic, I think of Rick and the Ramblers, his place, you know. It was like the last thing you say, out of almost morbid curiosity, you wanted to get in that building. And then his place was so... It was like a weird museum of local history and music and a view of the lake. If you could see out the window, you know, it was crazy. But people loved it. I remember there was lines at that one. Yeah, there's something for everyone, right? So how many homes are on the tour this year? So we have six homes on the tour this year and that's pretty much the number we shoot for. I think we've had some years where we may have had five with last minute cancellations, but knock on wood. We have six homes this time. One of the exciting ones on the tour is gonna be the Follett House, right on the waterfront or across the road, I guess, from the waterfront of Burlington, the beautiful Greek revival. Pretty unobstructed view of the waterfront. Yes, yeah. And so we're very happy to have that home on the tour. I've never seen inside. I'm sure some folks have, but I'm told that right now it is an office building, but many of the rooms have been restored and are very nicely decorated. I've been inside it. It's beautiful, it is. And they love the story too. And I can't remember off the top of my head, but maybe you know it. Do you know the story about the wife? Yeah, but I couldn't tell it. I would have bought it. I'm sure it'll be on display. You mean the Follett story? Yeah, the Follett story when he built it. Lost all his money. Well, if he lost all his money, his wife was like a gat about in town or something. And yeah, I don't know. It's pretty... It's a spicy story. It's a spicy story. Yeah, I'm sure they'll be telling it. Sure. Well, it's one of my favorite Vermont buildings and certainly in Burlington. So we're happy to have that home on the tour. We have, as I said, five other homes. We, this year, like we have in the past, we kind of try to get a mix of homes. So we will have some smaller homes, average everyday folks homes. And of a historic nature, I think the one I was talking about on North Avenue is probably the newest home on the tour from the 1950s. Right, from mid-century. And then we have other ones, probably the Follett houses, the oldest home on the tour. And then other homes fall in between there and range from various different styles. I know we have some... You and I met one of the homes and it's very vernacular worker housing and... Met the home? We did meet the home. We met at the home. Okay. And could we cut to commercial for a minute? Anyway, the good story on that home is it's a remodel. Certainly not a remodel, it's a remodel. And this house was neglected for so long and it's near my house. So I've seen them work on it over the past. It took them a couple of few years, maybe two years, three years or something. And working weekends, because they both have jobs. And they saved the house, you know? And it's pretty intact. It looks just like it did when it was original. And inside, of course, is modernized to a certain extent, but they've done all kinds of interesting stuff with salvage materials and what... I think it's gonna be pretty pop... It's one of the not bigger houses, but it's gonna be one of the really popular ones on the tour, I think. It's fun to see what they've done, you know? Yeah. So they're all over Burlington, they're not... They're not clustered? They're not clustered. They're all over Burlington, you know, in an ideal world, given that it's only the tour lasts from 12 until four. You know, it would be nice to maybe just have a... One road? One road with all the tours right there, but are all the homes right there, but not possible, because it takes a lot of work to convince people to be on the tour, and the chance of getting five houses located closely together is pretty much... Unless they're all mid-century modern, like that one year they were all on one road. But I mean, the thing I like about the fact that it's kind of spread out this year, and definitely we try to cluster them normally, but it's like, okay, first year back, right? And then we'll return after COVID, and people can see, not only... They're just driving to different neighborhoods, so you'll see several different neighborhoods in town with examples of the housing in that neighborhood, which is kind of cool. Yeah, and they're not miles away. For instance, we have two homes in... Really, three homes in Burlington South, and two either in or very adjacent to the Five Sisters neighborhood. Then we have one up on South Willard Street, which is not too far from those two other homes. Then we have the Follett House, as I mentioned. Then we have two off from North Avenue. One with a spectacular view of the lake and beautiful garden on Terrace. Terrace? Lakeview Terrace. Lakeview Terrace. Lakeview Terrace. And then one out from North Avenue further down that I've mentioned with the garden, with the fantastic garden and very eclectic style. So it sounds like if you're heading from North or South, you can almost make a sweep, make a big sweep of it, and then turn around and go home. I know we're not Winooski, one square mile, but we're like seven miles. That's not that bad to travel, you know. And another thing new this year is our tickets have for years been sold at Flynn Ticks, Flynn Ticks, Flynn Box Office. They are no longer offering that service. So we have arranged to have our tickets sold by seven days and I believe it's seven days tickets. I think so. There's a link on their website I've seen. And then you can see all the different things that are available to buy tickets for. Yeah, and those will go on sale likely around May 9th. The tour is June 10th, Saturday, June 10th. So that will give about a month to purchase tickets. And they're still $20 as in the past? The tickets are still $20, yes. Okay. What else is on June 10th that's really important? I can't remember. There's a special, something about June 10th. My birthday, that's right. So thank you, Matt, for bringing the home store back on my birthday. Yeah, well, yeah. I know you did that on purpose. You can throw your water at him tonight. You're welcome. We'll have a special cake for you. I do, I said it earlier. I do mean it. That is a good point. We will have refreshments and like a little party. Oh yeah, where's the sag stop? Yeah, we're still in discussions about where that will be. I'm pretty confident that it will be in one of the homes, but that is still to be determined. But don't worry, folks who go on the tour will be able to have some delicious lemonade and cookies as usual. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's always one of the better parts. Better stops for the thing. People congregate and share notes and stuff. So are there homeowners at their homes? Will they be there telling the stories of their homes as well? How does it all work? How does it work? Well, yeah, it varies. It's really up to the homeowners what they want to do. And we love it when the homeowners are excited about the tour and want to be in the home to answer questions. Other homeowners I think are a little bit more bashful maybe and don't want to be around. And those homeowners are absolutely welcome to go and view all the other homes on the tour. But I usually recommend if the homeowner is interested to stay for at least half the tour. So the way we run the tour is it's four hours. We have volunteers who help us every year with this. And the volunteers have two hour stints, really. And so if you volunteer to help us with the tour, you get to tour the homes for two hours and then work for two hours. So I recommend that the homeowners try that as well. Because I think they may be a little reticent about being in the home to have to hear what people are saying about their home. But it can also be very exciting. You get a lot of compliments. And you feel really proud about the work you've put into your historic home. So I think it can be really kind of self affirming if they're there to see that excitement. Yeah, yeah. I know that my in-laws, Jack and Peg, meant has had their home on twice. They had their condo on on Adams Street. And then also the carriage house, the year we did carriage houses. And Peg still talks about it. She loves it. She loves the people coming through and asking questions and chatting. It's a really fun time. It's really great. Are you still looking for volunteers? We are still looking for volunteers. And I don't know if we have any, the best way for people to reach out about that. We can put something on the website to make that easy. Perfect. Normally, I just give people my email address, but I don't know that I want to necessarily do that here. Because of all the thousands of people that are just gonna. Three thousand. It hasn't stopped ringing. But. That's because it's email, man. Yeah, but. So, in short, I do have a list. I do have a list of previous volunteers from three years ago. And I'm sure many of those folks will be here to volunteer again. But we're always looking for new energy. So, yeah, we'll be looking for new volunteers. You might well see a front porch forum. Call? A call for volunteers? Call for volunteers. Well, normally you'll definitely see advertising or notice that. Of the home store. Of the home store. And what we often do is kind of plug right in there. On the bottom line. Anyone interested in volunteering. Reach out to me. And so that's. I remember one year I wrote help with desperate for help on the bottom. Did it work? And Matt got mad at me, yeah. And then we were flooded with people, so. So, our ticket's going to be digital or printed. And the booklet. Usually we put together a little booklet, right? With a little house history and information. How's that going to work this year? We're doing that this year as well. The booklet will be just like it has in all previous years. It will be available at the homes. So whichever home you stopped in first, you'll get your booklet. And it will include a, among other things, a map of the other homes. It will include histories of each home. And interesting facts about the house. Or things to look out for. As far as the tickets go, as I said, those are available at the seven days tickets office. And apparently I'm told that you can go and pick them up physically at seven days during normal business hours. But the easiest way to do it will be to, you'll purchase the tickets online and you'll be able to just print it. My understanding is that they will either send it to your email or send it to your phone. You can either print it out or just. Have it on your phone. Have it on your fancy newfangled folks. They just look at your phone. You know? And there it is. A little scanner. It's gonna be a little bit of learning curve this year. But you're right, that was a good question. Because it is gonna be different. You're not going physically grabbing a ticket and showing it when you show up. So it'll be something you printed out if you could. If not, you could just show your picture. I think showing the phone is fine. There's less stuff into the landfill, right? Or into the recycling bin? Yeah, our paperless society. Yeah, that never worked. It got worse, it got worse. Right. Oh, you said something earlier, Matt. It'll come back to me, but. It's because you're old. It was anecdotal about, yeah, the home store and just some funny stuff. But there's been a lot of funny stuff over the years and putting it together, you know. Just interesting either homes or I don't wanna overwhelm people, but the after-party is always fun, you know. We're gonna have to have a couple of homes for our meetings coming up pretty quick, huh? We do. Yeah, the folks who don't know, there is a homes tour committee, which is one of the standing committees of Preservation Burlington. I have been fortunate or unfortunate to be the chairperson of that committee for. 23 years or so. Seems like that. Has it been the only one? Oh no, no, no. The homes tour has a very storied past of being initially run by a group of folks who are really separate from Preservation Burlington. They kind of ran it as a distinct, separate group. Yes, stand-alone committee that did their own thing. And Rebels. And were very good at it. And like with all things, I think they reached the point where they needed to have other things to do and occupy their time. So it eventually became a really a committee of the board and it consists of a very small group of dedicated people who year after year search for these homes and knock on doors and plead and beg homeowners to participate. Compliment them. So what you're saying is you would love some new blood on this committee, have people come volunteer, not just on homes tour day itself, but come and help all year round to plan the next one. We're not like that first committee. We're not insular. We're not insular at all. I happen to be on the committee and I watch Matt's hard work and Jack and you know, Marge just all the background history stuff. But yeah, it's a fun committee. It's probably realistically like 15 years ago now I think then we started, because remember we were meeting in my old, old shop. And then that's sort of when there was sort of a changeup of the guard at that point. And Lindsay Mason was on it, running it. She was part of that old, and then they had all sort of gone away like Matt said. And then all of a sudden we were, okay, well, we can do this. And I think you've been in charge of it since as far as I can remember. I keep trying to get rid of it and it keeps coming back. It's crickets every time you invite someone else to step in and take over. Yeah, but fresh blood would be good. Preservation Burlington as a board could use new people. Our committee could definitely use more people. We don't call it membership anymore, do we, for Preservation Burlington, but our supporters, we can always use more of those. So, yeah. Or even just people to solicit and help encourage homeowners to get their homes on the tour. That's the big thing. We do reach out to people every year and sometimes we get, sometimes we get people let us know houses they like. That's not what we're looking for. We're looking for somebody who has an in with a homeowner and they think it might be worthy and they'd wanna see it on the home store. But we do reach out to the community at large and try to do that every year. And then, yeah, sometimes it shoots us in the foot because we get a lot of just more houses that we have to look at that are cold calls. So that's the tricky part. That's where Matt and Jack are really good. They cold call. They just go in and they tell them how great the home store is and that you should be on it. Jack's experienced doing yellow page sales for 50 plus years or something. I don't know how long he was in the phone company, but he's knocked on a lot of doors. So he's good at it. Me, I'm not really good at it. So since both of you've been doing this for a really long time, do you have a favorite home that has been on the tour ever? Does anything stand out? Well, there are a lot of favorite homes, I think. There was one on, gosh, I'm forgetting the name, not Willard Street, but South Union, I believe, right on the corner of South Union and maybe Spruce or something very close to there, a fantastic brick home that was, the owners have changed over the years. Kathy Donnelly's house. That is, she was owned, she owned it at the time. The former house. And that house was just fantastically decorated almost to my perfect taste. And as you climbed the staircase that was incredible, up three floors, I believe, there was this fantastic back porch with a view of the lake. Sweet views of the lake. And like Wicker Shays lounges, and it was just fantastic. You could feel the breeze coming in off the lake and it was absolutely beautiful. So that would be my favorite house. How about you? That's a good one. It's so hard, there's been so many over the years. And again, so many different types and styles of houses that the one I mentioned earlier may be one of my favorites now. Definitely the year we did the Modernist Homes, there were two or three up on the forest, the forest heights, there was two or three there. There were a couple that were just really cool. And again, they're up high, they're on the forest. You get this view of the Adirondacks and the lake from these front porches, you know, from this, I mean, if you were derogatory, you'd say almost motel-like, but the houses are sprawled out. The whole front of the house is glass and open up to the view. It's amazing. I really enjoyed that tour as well, just because it was a building style that I didn't have a whole lot of familiarity with and to actually see it in use and as a residence and how the spaces were put together and decorated it was educational and so it was really eye-opening which I really enjoyed. Because we get to see, like on home tours, the Victorian, the Colonials, those are traditional, what people want to see, but these Modernist Homes were just super cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's fun, it's like you said earlier, man. It's hard to get all of one type of house. We kick that idea around and we get advice from outside the committee sometime. Oh, you should do all tutors. And it's like, well, great. But there's X amount of them and we have to badger the people to get them on the tour, you know? So that's really difficult. But we've had a couple of tutors on the tour that are fun, you know, that 1920s, maybe early, by the 30s they're moving more into craftsman or bungalow style, right? But yeah, I don't know. So technically tutor revival. Tutor revival. Yeah, okay, okay, miss, I'm from England. Oh, you are feisty today. Well, me, yeah. I don't know, it's, yeah, I'm pretty excited. It's gonna be fun. It's been a long three years without it. I know it's, we joke and stuff and we have joke. It is a pain in the neck to pull this thing together. And the reason the committee is a standing committee for the year is because it really, after the home tour, we probably relax for a month or two and then start thinking about it again, you know? So it takes 10 months to pull it together. 10 months, three pretty vigorous out of those. But yeah, every year after the tour is done, I take a deep breath and think, oh. I'm never doing this again. That's over with. And then like maybe in a week or two, I think, you know, you should start right now and get a jump on it. It's like all those homeowners who said, oh, not this year, but probably or maybe next year, I just send them a message right now and lock them in for next year. But that doesn't, that doesn't happen. I was gonna say, if Matt wasn't exhausted, probably the morning after the home store, he would call those people and go, so are you on for next year? So you need help, we get that. Yeah, it's pretty great. I think we're winding down here, so I just want to, I want Matt, Matt, thanks for coming on. Thanks for doing all your hard work and pulling this crazy thing together. And it's our biggest fundraiser and people love it. And they've been asking about it for three years. So it's great to be able to bring it back for them. Still asking about it. And now I can tell them, yes, we're doing it, you know. Thanks everybody for tuning in to CCTV, Live at 525, Preservation, Burlington. For more information on Burlington history, our tours and events, or to get a marker for your historic house, go to preservationburlington.org and we'll see you next month.