We finally had the opportunity to tour the Westcott House after the restoration was completed.  What a great house!  I can’t believe how wonderful it looks.  We got to tour it early in the restoration process and the difference is night and day. 

One thing that we noticed was that Springfield, Ohio is a town that needs some love.  There are certainly some beautiful homes there, but it is really obvious that the economy is not doing so well in that area.  It was an industrial powerhouse of a town in the 1800s and grew quickly and continually through much of the 1900s.  At one point there were 10 different car manufacturers with factories in Springfield.  The depression hit Springfield hard, as it did all of the country.  These days the manufacturing and industry don’t seem to be booming. 

The parts that we drove through looked pretty depressed.  I’m sure there are good sides of town that we did not see.  I don’t mean to talk down Springfield.  It is a very cool town with plenty of wonderful architecture. 

If you live in Springfield, please post up about your town and where I should visit the next time we come through. 

You can see the most recent photos HERE.

You can see the restoration photos HERE.

Don’t miss the Wright Panorama Exhibit if you get there before January 6, 2008. 

I had a blog entry about experiences that people had with tours of Wright-designed homes.  This tour was very nicely conducted by the Westcott House docent (Nancy).  She had a rough group.  There were two “know-it-alls” that talked throughout the entire tour, opened every door and had their hands on pretty much everything.  They didn’t stay with the group… walking ahead or lagging behind.  They pretty much made it very difficult for the rest of us to enjoy the tour. 

The one thing that the docent did not do was rope these two in.  I think she was fairly new and did a good job of not letting them bother her.  They were basically the perfect example of how people on a tour can ruin it for everyone else. 

We enjoyed the tour and will go back again when things are in bloom.

Thanks!

Pete