A Home Tour perspective

The reborn, 2018 Tioga Arts Council Home Tour was a big success with over 300 people enjoying touring five very different homes. One house in particular, 536 Fifth Ave., offered a perspective from the host. 

The homeowners, Pat Loewe and Peter Gordon, opened their doors to their stucco-clad cross-gabled cottage they purchased in 2003 for this year’s home tour, held Dec. 8 in the Historic District of downtown Owego.

Since the house had in the past been closed some years before and the heat turned off, the pipes had burst. Therefore that damage and the predation of the 2011 flood had made the house less of an historic treasure, and more of a study in rehabilitation and repurposing of materials. 

For example many of the kitchen cabinets had been made from furniture that had fallen apart in the flood. The headboard in the master bedroom was made from the doors of an old “entertainment unit.” Soft plaster was stiffened by inserting tiles in wood frames pinned to the lathe. The owner’s artsy side is displayed in their “cat-dog” bathroom sink by potter Vaughn Smith. 

The owners did however have very different stories about the house. Pat stationed herself on the first floor and Peter on the second. Pat said this placement allowed her to make a fact-based presentation about the house. 

For example, Pat stated that while driving home from Ithaca in 2003 they discovered this lovely town when they were forced to detour because the Court Street Bridge was out. Peter stated that he promised his lovely a house on Fifth Avenue and succeeded. 

Pat says they survived the flood, three days on the second story eating food salvaged from the freezer. Peter can’t understand why one wouldn’t be happy with peanut butter on bagels for three days. 

Peter claims to have done the post-flood repairs through heroic effort. Pat says he married well, and that his brother-in-law, a Battalion Chief in the NYC Fire Department, came up with three sturdy young firefighters and took down the wet plaster walls in a matter of hours. Pat has also issued an apology to those who came through and did not get any cookies. Peter had baked 11 dozen, but had hid two dozen more, which should have gone to the visitors.

After the tour, both owners thanked the Arts Council docents for guiding people through the house and stated that there was not one visitor who they were not glad they had come into their home.

Other homes on the tour included the newly opened Belva Lockwood Inn at 249 Front St., 9 Front St., 240 Main St., and 560 Fifth Ave. Following the tour, a free, post-tour event – Tioga Tales, The Genuine After the Home Tour Party – took place at Tioga Trails Café on Lake and Main Street. 

The home tour takes place annually, and is hosted by the Tioga Arts Council. To learn more about arts council programs, call (607) 687-0785 or visit www.tiogaartscouncil.org.