West Central Home & Garden Tour

 The historic West Central Neighborhood in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana is one of my all-time favorite neighborhoods. Dating back to the 1830's, it once housed the elite of Fort Wayne society and the houses there are nothing short of amazing. 

I was lucky enough to live in West Central for a few years and I probably still would if I hadn't gotten married! It was a dream of mine to live there ever since I can remember and it was a sad day when I moved out! Many of the houses have been (horribly) split up into apartments and fallen into disrepair over the last century, but West Central is making a major comeback. It makes me so happy to see people restoring these gorgeous, gigantic, old houses! Many of them are truly mansions.

This past weekend I went on the annual West Central Home and Garden Tour and today I am sharing some of my favorite parts of it. I took mostly outdoor pictures because it was difficult to get a good indoor shot. Some of the houses I will be showing you weren't even on the tour, but I love them so much I had to include them anyways! 

Someday soon, I will take another walk downtown and take more pictures, but this will give you a taste of some of the beautiful architecture that Fort Wayne has to offer!

This house was one of two reasons why I had to go on the West Central Tour this year. I drove by this house almost every day for the better part of a decade and always wished that someone would fix it up! And now they have! It had sat vacant for years and was just a mess. There was a giant bush covering the whole front of the home and I was so happy the day they tore it out and I could see the whole house! This house dates back to about 1887!

The home is full of original stained glass that was actually stolen, recovered, and thankfully put back in it's rightful place!

I loved the color of these original hardwood floors! They are so unique.

This was my second reason for going on the tour...my old apartment building! My apartment was the second from the top in the right hand corner!

This is Sheridan Court Apartments, built in 1925 by the famed architect Alvin M. Strauss. Someday I will show you the pictures of my amazing old apartment.

Another gorgeous old home on the tour! The original owner of the home owned the Shields Clothing Co. on Calhoun Street and had this house built for his family around 1910. I just love finding out interesting facts like that about old Fort Wayne!

Although not one of the grander homes in West Central, this cute little cottage home is still full of character. It was estimated to have been built around the middle 1800's!

It's all about the details in old homes!

I am OBSESSED with this wallpaper!!! It's in a house that is a "work in progress" and will most likely be covered up or ripped out in the future. It was pretty damaged and filthy in some areas of the stairwell. I wonder if it is original to the house, which was built in 1899. At least I got this picture of it!

These gorgeous row houses were built for the faculty of the now-defunct Methodist College. Although they appear to be completely connected, in the back there are spaces between them with windows that look right into the next house. You would never be able to escape your co-workers living here!

Emmanuel Lutheran Church was also included on the tour after having undergone extensive renovations. It reminded me of a mix of my old church and the Old North Church in Boston.

I LOVED the shimmery gold stars against the blue on the ceiling of the chancel! Well done!

This was an alley we walked through on the tour, but Fort Wayne still has several brick streets throughout the town!

These next homes were not on the tour, but I had to include them anyways! They are all in West Central and something about each of them spoke to me. Like this one. What a perfect little cottage!

Many of these home I have driven by hundreds of times, but never walked by them. It's an entirely different vibe and I will be doing it more often!

I cannot believe the attention to detail in even the littlest of things.

What a beauty! I wonder what's up in that turret?

Every home on this block has been recently restored and remodeled and they have all done an excellent job!

This has always been one of my favorites and I even tried to get an apartment in there once, but it was too expensive for me!

I loved this second story porch on one of the houses!

I did have the chance to live here once, but I turned it down to live in Sheridan Court. The second story in that turret could have been my living room!

I just love old houses!

Some color combos you can only get away with on an old house!

What an awesome little apartment building. It reminds me of Chicago.

This is my new absolute favorite house in West Central now! They just remodeled it have done an amazing job. It used to be completely white and you just could not see any of the character of it.

Perfection.