The Dublin Garden Club’s annual Tour of Homes is set for this Sunday, Dec. 8 and tickets can be purchased while viewing a group of beautiful homes and historically significant locations.
The viewing of homes will be from 2-5 p.m. with refreshments served at The Little Church on Grafton from 2-5:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 each or two for $25 and benefit the Garden Club’s annual $500 DISD scholarship presented to a senior.
Tickets may be purchased in advance from any Dublin Garden Club member, Dublin Floral, Dublin Insurance Agency, Titan Fitness or the day of the tour at any home on the tour.
Homes on the tour include Steven Chambers’ home (1069 CR 305 in Dublin), Roxanne McInroe’s home (502 W. Clinton Street in Dublin), Denise Weems’ home (203 N. Davies Street in Dublin), the William T. Miller Grist Mill (Corner of Elm St. and S. Park St. in Dublin) and The Little Church on Grafton (301 N. Grafton in Dublin.)
Historic and familial significance of the homes is part of the enjoyment of the tour and the Weems home, located at 203 N. Davies, is one of the highlights, featuring a cozy environment full of Christmas cheer.
The home was built in 1895 by Al Long for Ms. Barbee, the DP matron. Each piece of wood was hand-selected, and every bit of the house is true to square. It is pier on beam, and walls are lath. Al Long married into the Barbee family, so the house stayed in the Barbee and Long families for generations. The back bathroom of the home was originally a porch, so it sloped noticeable, and Denise and her late husband, Mike took the slope out when they remodeled that part of the house.
Former owners of the house included Ray Long (the former Park Ranger and gun shop owner) and Councilman Sam Lamkin, from whom the Weems purchased the home.
“He stopped by once and said, ‘You know, I haven’t come far in life.’ We wondered why he would think that, then he laughed and said he was born in the room we were standing in (the dining room) which used to be a bedroom,” Denise said.
Coincidentally, Lamkin moved here from San Diego and lived a mere 10 miles from Weems and her family before she relocated to Dublin.
“He knows my cousin and her cousin from where they worked at the telephone company! Small world!” Denise said.
Another home on the tour is Roxanne McInroe’s stunning Victorian home, located at 502 W. Clinton.
The 1898 home is 4,508 sq. feet (not including the unfinished attic space or the stunning widows walk) and is dubbed the Harris House (or the Castle) by many. It was built by John G. Harris, the founder of the Dublin National Bank, as a way to convince his wife Annie that it was a good idea to move to Texas from Virginia.
The home showcases historical detail upon historical detail including the original tin from the bank which is used in the ceiling of the kitchen, stained glass window, pocket doors and wood ... lots and lots of wood.
“It’s like living in art,” McInroe said. McInroe enjoys spending time in the home with her sons Tyson and Keegan and her granddaughter Roxie.
The home, set on 18 acres, also has a red carriage house, a greenhouse and plenty of space to showcase beautiful views.
When stepping inside the home, the first thing most people feel is the relaxing, comforting nature of the home which McInroe calls ‘The Healing Place.’
McInroe purchased the home in 2011 from Pat and Sarah Bays, but the home had been in her life for much longer than that – at least in her mind.
“Ever since I was a little girl of five or six, I’ve had a vision of living in a home like this,” she said. “I use to draw it.”
Growing up in Levelland on the family homestead, McInroe lost her mom in 2008 and then her dad in 2010. Faced with the decision of whether to stay there or move elsewhere, she made the decision to move. Then, the day before Thanksgiving in 2010, her family’s home burned down.
It was in July 2011 when an error with OnStar brought her to Dublin making her travel right in front of the Victorian home on Clinton Street.
“I stopped and it felt like I was going to have a heart attack,” she said.
With no one being at home, she tucked a business card with her information on it under a windshield wiper on Pat’s truck with a note to please call her.
Eventually he did and with God’s help, McInroe was able to purchase her dream home.
With her approaching retirement in 11 months from being a Mary Kay National Sales Direction McInroe is looking towards future opportunities with her sons in a different part of DFW, which is why the home is currently on the market.
“The house has embraced me from the beginning,” she said.