May 15, 2014

• The Mansions of Mount Vernon Avenue

  

  Prescott’s Mount Vernon Avenue is an amalgam of much that makes the town a draw for those who seek a blend of nature and luxury. It starts with a series of Victorian Era homes, ranging from full-on elegance to well-built, lower middle class bungalows.  The road goes uphill steadily, then leads to Senator Highway, with its many forest camps and the rustic beauty of the Hassayampa resort area.

  Five of Mount Vernon Avenue’s homes made up the conclusion of my historic homes tour on May 3.  Here are nineteen photos of this diverse street’s best offerings.

  I went first to the Hedrick D. Aitken House, home to a storekeeper and his family.  “Hed” was one of the early members of Hassayampa Country Club, and is said to have golfed 18 holes, each morning before work.

  

   

  Here are two shots of the interior, a photograph of Mattie Tuttle Aitken’s aunt, and one of the current lady of the house, as “Mattie”.

  

  

   

  I net visited the Ralph Roper House, a Victorian Cottage, which was home to Prescott’s first dentist.

  

   

  The living room gives the lie to the name “cottage”.

  

   

  The present owner was laid back, preferring to sit on the porch and trade snarky barbs with some of the visitors.

  I moved on, to the Hesla House, whose owners were very engaged in showing the house, dividing the visitors into small groups, and themselves dressed in Fin de Siecle garb.

  

  Here are some of the more interesting features of the Hesla.  First, it has one of the larger gardens along Mount Vernon.

  

   

   

  

   

   

   

  Wood-ringed bath tubs were rare then, as now.

  

  A Victrola provided the evening entertainment, before the heyday of radio.

  

  Dolls were serious works of art, as the Nineteenth Century drew to a close.

  

   

   

  

   

  Ceramic eggs, which I remember from my aunt’s house as a child, were another item of late Victorian decor.

  

  No Victorian home would have been complete without a chandelier.

  

   

  This view of  the Sanglier House, a Queen Anne Cottage, shows the vagaries of lighting a house naturally, at the edge of a hill.

  

   

  Carved animal heads, over a door, were the mark of the owner’s spirit.

   

   

  

  The last house on the tour was the Lodge-Hicks house, a bungalow.

  

  The decor was more reflective of the Forties and Fifties.

  

   

  

  The little jaunt was encapsulated by this bit of sage advice:

  

   

  Each resident of these delightful homes has followed this maxim, in their own way.

   

  • 12:16 am
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