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Take a Tour of Tourison
November 11, 2018 | 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
$20 – $25
This event is a fundraiser for Historic Germantown sponsored by Community Acupuncture of Mt. Airy.Â
Ashton Tourison, Sr. was born in Mt. Airy in 1851 to a former captain in the American Revolution who came to Pennsylvania from France in the early 1800s. Beginning in the 1870s, he had a grand vision for and confidence in the future of what would become Mt. Airy, similar to the developers who are transforming our neighborhood today.
In approximately 1904, after 20 years building dozens of houses in what is now called East and West Mt. Airy, and noting the development of the new “Suburban Homes” in West Mt. Airy in a development called “Pelham,” Tourison saw the potential to build an equally beautiful neighborhood in the farmlands on the EAST side of what he called “The City’s Main Road to the Country,” otherwise known as Germantown Avenue. To that end, he purchased 125 acres between Chew and Stenton, from E. Mt. Pleasant Ave to Gorgas Lane, and advertised his plan for Sedgwick Farms as “stone-built homes, planned on an architectural idea that makes each different from the other, yet in perfect harmony with all.”
Along with creating timeless beauty, he provided “practical houses” embracing core values of space, air, light, comfort and good taste. He claimed that after 50 years as a developer, he has learned that these qualities are “what a man wants in a home.” Tourison also recognized the human need to have a home distinct from his neighbor’s, and therefore had his architect son Bart create a variety of designs, mostly in the form of Tudor Revival, Neo-Georgian, Victorian and Colonial Revival.
With these core values in mind, this show will tell the story of Ye Sedgwick Farms Companycomprised of Tourison, together with his 4 sons. This singular family’s vision provided us not only with a legacy of beautiful, enduring architecture, but also reminds us to ask ourselves how we feel about the importance of including those values today in our built environment.
This event is a fundraiser for Historic Germantown. Online tickets are limited by the venue, however some tickets may be available at the door for $25. Call 215-266-5757 the day of the event if you wish to come and have not purchased a ticket.
