https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/design/2011-04-05/2011-heritage-society-of-austin-homes-tour-the-bold-and-the-beautiful/

2011 Heritage Society of Austin Homes Tour: The Bold and the Beautiful

By Anne Harris, April 5, 2011, 2:36pm, Chronique

We've spent some fascinating afternoons with the Heritage Society of Austin over the years, but the 19th Annual Heritage Homes Tour, taking place this Saturday, April 9, looks like their most ambitious program to date.

Founded in 1953, the Heritage Society is Austin’s oldest and largest preservation non-profit group, whose mission is promoting awareness and the experience of Austin’s history in cultural diversity; as well as active preservation and restoration of local treasures in the form of grants and loans of over $2.8 million to date.

The 2011 tour, entitled The Bold & the Beautiful, honors the significant local body of work of 19th century master builder Abner Cook. Cook built Woodlawn, Sweetbrush, the Neill-Cochran House Museum, and is credited with building the Texas Governor’s Mansion. Highlights of this year's event include the grandeur of five seldom seen estates of historic Austin, including the beautiful interiors of Woodlawn and Sweetbrush, the lush and expansive grounds of Inshallah, exciting new plans for the restoration of the Commodore Perry Estate, and lively lectures at the Neill-Cochran House Museum. These lectures will take place the day of the tour featuring speakers from Volz & Associates, an architectural firm specializing in historic preservation. The talks include “Neill-Cochran House: Preserving A Master Builder's Legacy” at 11am; and “Inside the Neill-Cochran House: A Walk Through Time” at 1pm. Admission to the lectures is included with a homes tour ticket.

To complement the self-guided homes tour and to elaborate on Cook's work, the Paramount Theater is sponsoring the Governor’s Mansion Matinee Feature on Tuesday, April 5, from 4:30 to 6 pm. Featured speaker Dealey Herndon, project manager for the mansion restoration, will review progress from a June 2008, four-alarm arson fire. Tickets for the event are $15, and are available at http://www.heritagesocietyaustin.org/. See below for this year's highlights.

Saturday, April 9; 10am-4pm

Admission:
$23 for HSA members
$28 for non-members

Tickets are available at the following consignment locations until the day of the tour, April 9. Tour Tickets can also be purchased online at www.heritagesocietyaustin.org until the day of the tour.

Breed & Company
718 W. 29th St.
3663 Bee Caves Rd.

Tarrytown Pharmacy
2727 Exposition Blvd., Ste. 105

Restoration Hardware
Arboretum Shopping Center
10000 Research Blvd., Ste. 133

Zinger Hardware & General Merchant
2438 W. Anderson Lane

2011 Home Tour stops:
Woodlawn
1606 Niles Rd., Austin, TX 78703

Sweetbrush
2408 Sweetbrush Dr., Austin, TX 78703

Inshallah
602 E. 43rd St., Austin, TX 78705

Neill-Cochran House
2310 San Gabriel St., Austin, TX 78705

Commodore Perry Estate
4100 Red River St., Austin, TX 78751

See You there!