Sally Childress of Pendleton talks to Matt Houston, who along with wife Ashley opened their home, 210 W. State St., for this year’s Pendleton Home Tour on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
Matt and Ashley Houston opened the door of their home, 210 W. State St., to visitors during this year’s Pendleton Home Tour on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
Matt and Ashley Houston sit one of their favorite rooms in the house, which features built in bookshelves and pocket doors.
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
Dan and Jen Medina talk to people about the home of Bob Post, 320 S. Pendleton Avenue, during the Pendleton Home Tour on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
Pendleton Home Tour visitors enjoy checking out the antiques at the home of Bob Post, 320 S. Pendleton Avenue.
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
Scott Slade | The Times-Post
PENDLETON — This year’s Pendleton Home Tour offered people a chance to see inside five historic homes on Saturday, and just over 100 people took advantage of the opportunity.
“It was a really successful, great event, really happy with the turnout,” organizer Bri Kendall said.
The five homes included 301 E. State St. (Taylor and Lyndie Metz), 210 W. State St. (Matt and Ashley Houston), 233 S. Main St. (South Madison Community Foundation), 320 S. Pendleton Ave. (Bob Post) and 402 S. Broadway (Matt Berline and son Zach Berline).
Sarah Hubble took the tour with a handful of friends.
Besides wanting to spend some time together, “we wanted to see the historical homes,” she said.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never done it — this is my first time.”
Sally Childress, who was on the tour with her adult daughter Elizabeth, said it was interesting to see what people have done with their homes, especially how and the degree to which they have preserved them.
Plus, seeing what other people have done serves as a bit of reconnaissance: “We’ve been doing a little bit of home renovation at our house,” Sally said.
Elizabeth said she loved the way homeowners have maintained the “historic charm and feel” of their homes.
“They’ve really all done that, they’ve just done that in different ways,” she said.
Matt and Ashley Houston, who welcomed people into their home during the tour — with about 25 people there at peak time — said that’s what they’ve done and intend to do.
They said they fell in love with the 1899 home when they first saw it, and they purchased it in August 2023.
They’ve painted the interior and added some new fixtures, but that’s about it.
“Everyone that’s owned this home before has done a wonderful job of maintaining the historical integrity of it,” Ashley said. “And that’s what we want to do as well.”
Kendall said it wasn’t just local residents who did the tour. There were people from out of town who had never been to Pendleton.
“That was really exciting,” she said. “I think the first couple I spoke with were from New York, which is crazy.
“They travel the United States in an RV, and they had heard about our tour a few weeks ago,” she said. “They traveled through here specifically for the home tour, and they spent the day. They went to the park, they had lunch within the town, they made an entire day of it, which is amazing. I love it.”
Proceeds from this year’s tour — $1,500 — were donated to Friends For Paws, a local animal welfare organization.