River Bend Neighborhood

The 2009 River Bend Home Tour is this weekend -  Saturday, September 12, 10 am – 4 pm, and Sunday, September 13, 11 am – 4 pm. The houses on display run from one end of the neighborhood to the other, along the historic Ninth Street streetcar route.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 – 17. Children aged 5 and under are free.  Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Dahl’s grocery store at 35th and Ingersoll Avenue, or on the days of the tour at the United Way building, 1111 9th St.

The six-house tour route is an easy walk up and down a tree-lined segment of 9th Street. In addition, DART will be honoring our tour tickets for complementary rides along the tour route. Buses run every hour on Saturday and Sunday.

The next River Bend Neighborhood Meeting will be this coming Monday, September 14 at 7:00 PM.

We will meet at the Salvation Army offices at 6th and Forest Avenues.  Please enter through the north door.

1631 9th Street

This Queen Anne bungalow was constructed circa 1910.  The home is listed as a “contributing structure” in the West 9th Streetcar Line Historic District, a National Register historic district.

Soon after construction was completed on the 1631 9th Street home, the lot was subdivided and a similar house was built in its “back yard,” facing Washington Avenue.

The house has undergone several additions and alterations, including a tiny enclosed garage (where the current back porch is located) and a small bedroom addition on the back.

Both homes have undergone periods of vacancy and deterioration in recent years.

When Neighborhood Finance Corporation acquired the property at 1631 9th Street, the back building was in very poor condition.  The basement stairway had fallen in, and the foundation walls were bowing.  It was determined that something needed to be done with that house in order to “complete” the renovation of the home at 1631 9th Street.  Accordingly, the back property was acquired, and the house moved across the alley to a lot directly facing 8th Street.

The home has several unique features including a curved porch column, a large central fireplace in the living room, along with much of the original hardwood flooring, baseboards, and architectural trim.

The substantial renovation scope included correcting all functional obsolescence issues in the kitchen, bathroom, back bedroom, basement access, and bedrooms. The fully renovated home includes: (more…)

1510 9th Street

The home at 1510 9th st is known to many in the area as “the farm house”. Believed to of been built sometime around 1870, the house sat in the midst of what was a large farm and orchard.

At some point, an addition was built, almost doubling the size of the home, and adding a nice curved staircase and landing.

After WW II, like many homes in the area, the house was turned into a boarding house. It had 4 small apartments with kitchens, and apartments on each floor shared a bathroom. The house stayed like this until 2004, when Ralph Henderson bought the home. Henderson had the brick exterior tucked and started on demolition inside.

Later in 2004, Dorothy Hecht and Chad VandeLune bought the house and continued with demolition and started renovation of the property. Doing most of the work themselves, progress has been slow but very rewarding. Some of the home’s features include large windows, high ceilings, a curved staircase and pine floors.

This house is one of the homes featured on the 2009 River Bend Home Tour which will be Saturday, September 12, 10 am – 4 pm, and Sunday, September 13, 11 am – 4 pm. The houses on display run from one end of the neighborhood to the other, along the historic Ninth Street streetcar route.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 6 – 17. Children aged 5 and under are free.  Tickets can be purchased in advance at Dahl’s at 35th and Ingersoll Avenue, or on the day of the tour at the United Way building, 1111 9th St.