Self-Guided Walking Tour on April 7, 12 noon to 5 p.m.
5 Private Residences & Numerous Points of Interest
Including 5 Alternative Living Arrangements
Tickets – $20 each
March 28 – April 6 at Arte de la Vida, 37 N. Tucson Blvd (just north of Broadway Blvd.) or
April 7th at Rincon Market, 2513 E. 6th Street – 9a.m. – 3p.m. (NE corner of Tucson Blvd and E. 6th St.).
For further information, contact: former board member Susan Peters – 520-343-3798 or www.samhughes.org
This tour is held every other year, and features lovely homes in the historic Sam Hughes neighborhood (between Speedway and Broadway, and between Campbell and Country Club – just east of the University of Arizona). 2013 paid members of the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association can purchase $10 tickets on the day of the tour.
And I hear that some of the “alternative living arrangements” included in this year’s tour are a hotel, a monastery, an elderly living complex, and a fraternity. Enjoy the tour this Spring.
SAM HUGHES 2013 HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOME TOUR by Denice Blake, SHNA home tour committee
Welcome to the 2013 Sam Hughes Historical Neighborhood and Home Tour. Bounded by Speedway/Broadway Boulevards and Campbell/Country Club Boulevards, our neighborhood is named for an early Tucson merchant whose reward for his support of public schools was to have a school named after him in 1927, ten years after his death. It was around that school, the Spanish Eclectic building at 700 N. Wilson, that the neighborhood emerged. Several years ago, when the school was due for an addition, the neighborhood rallied and used proceeds from previous home tours to guarantee that the work would be sympathetic to the original school.
Our one square mile neighborhood is composed of over 2,000 residences, businesses, schools, and places of worship. Some of the homes you’ll see today are close to their original condition; others have been tastefully remodeled. “Green” architecture is the new mantra. Descriptions in this brochure will note where the sites you visit today have used water thrift, reuse, locally-sourced products, and other elements of sustainability.
As you walk and drive around our neighborhood, you will see much evidence of diversity, especially in the age and economic range of both our residents and residences.
Restaurants sit next to student rentals; nine year olds live next to ninety year olds. Within walking/biking distance, businesses and professional offices supply almost every need: overnight accommodations, an independent film theater, restaurants, grocery/deli stores, professional services, and Himmel Park which includes a mid-century-style swimming pool, tennis courts, dog run, exercise equipment, a library, and a Sunday food truck round-up. Running east/west is Third St., officially designated a bike path straight to the mall of the University of Arizona, and then onto popular Main Gate Square. Running north-south, Treat Ave. has recently been designated a bike path. There is very little that one might need that can’t be serviced within a mile and a half of Sam Hughes’ borders.
It is, however, primarily the homes you have come to see. In these, too, you will find a marvelous mix: varied architectural styles and landscaping, adaptation to modern needs, price-range, size, and age. While the National Register of Historic Places recognizes this architectural diversity with designations as obscure as Egyptian Revival, the majority of the “contributing” houses are designated as Spanish Eclectic (63%) and Ranch (15%). Each, of course, represents the personality and style of successive owners.
In addition to the homes and gardens, we are featuring five non-traditional types of residences, three businesses and four restaurants serving refreshments and samples.
Please enjoy your visit and help preserve the kind of neighborhood we think there is a longing for.
