Fresno Historical Society home tour
Nov. 13-14
Tickets for Friday: $50.
Saturday tickets: $30 in advance; $35 day of
Information, tickets: 559-441-0862; www.ValleyHistory.org

Fresno's architectural heritage will be showcased Nov. 13 and 14th when five homes along historic Huntington Boulevard open for tours.

It is Fresno Historical Society's annual fund-raising home tour. Participants can gather on the front lawn of the A.G Wishon home, 3555 Huntington Boulevard (which is not open to visitors) from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nov. 13 for a wine and harvest dinner. A candlelight tour will follow.

At 11 a.m. the next day, participants can gather in the Roosevelt High School library for an illustrated lecture by Karana Hattersley-Drayton, the city's historic preservation officer and a panel discussion on how to green up a historic home. A home tour will follow from noon to 4 p.m..

Huntington Boulevard is the heart of one of Fresno's most architecturally distinct neighborhoods. A variety of styles - from modest to grand - face a wide boulevard bisected by a grassy median. The boulevard was a streetcar route from 1907 to 1939.

This year's tour includes the following:

Dr. Oliver Howard's 1914 Craftsman bungalow at 3263 E. Huntington was the first home constructed on the street. The dentist built a carriage house, which is now used as a workshop and garage.

The Clarence and Bessie Bernhauer home (1920) at 3428 E. Huntington, an Italian Renaissance Revival characterized by wide overhanging eaves. Bernhauer was vice president of Fresno Planing Mill Co. The property included a tennis court.

The Sporleder home (1926), a Spanish Revival at 3702 E. Huntington. An "S" is included in the grillwork on the balconet under the master bedroom. It contains a five-sided breakfast nook and sleeping porch.

Abraham Blum residence, (1927), 3870 E. Huntington. Blum and wife Mildred, inspired by houses they saw in Pasadena, built a Spanish Colonial that reportedly was the first all-electric house in Fresno. The bricks in the kitchen were recycled from the former Washington Junior High School.

Ralph P. and Varina Merritt Tudor Revival residence, 3815 E. Huntington (1926). Merritt, managing director of Sun Maid Raisin Growers, built it for $25,000 and counted then-U.S. Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover among his house guests.