Dining with Atmosphere During Preservation Event

If you live in the area this your chance to dine in my home! We are doing a "Farm to Table" theme and all the food we are serving is localy grown or raised.

Daily Nonpareil
By Tim Johnson, tjohnson@nonpareilonline.com
Published: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:56 AM CDT

Preserve Council Bluffs will showcase more homes during its fourth annual Preservation Promenade: Fine Dining in Historic Homes on Saturday, Oct. 8.

The event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. at the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce, 149 W. Broadway, offering guests an opportunity to get a closer look at the historic Hughes-Irons Building.

“The people will be assigned their houses at that time, and then they’ll basically spend the rest of the evening at that house,” said Wayne Andersen, a member of the Preserve Council Bluffs Board of Directors.

This fall’s tour will include eight restored houses, instead of the usual six, he said. The houses date from the 1880s to about 1920.

Guests will enjoy a multi-course, Victorian-style dinner with six or eight other guests amid elegant surroundings, Andersen said.

“It’s basically an intimate affair,” he said. “It’s not like when you’re in a noisy restaurant.”

The homes will include:

The Everest House, 125 S. Third St.;
The Jennings House, 201 Third St.;
The Davis House, 526 Third St.;
The H.H. Field House, 126 Park Ave.;
The Jay C. Aid House, 211 Park Ave.;
The Thomas D. Metcalf Jr. House, 528 Clark Ave.;
The Carlton Woodward House, 608 Oakland Ave.; and
The O.P. Wickham House, 616 S. Seventh St.

The Davis House, service center for local Girl Scouts from 1994 until it was sold in November 2010, might be of special interest.

“To the best of my knowledge, the Davis House has not been on a tour for 10 or 15 years,” Andersen said.

The house is a 1919 example of an eclectic Prairie School home with some Italian Renaissance influence.

All of the homes have been painstakingly restored – or are in the process of being restored, said Andersen, himself an owner of a Victorian home.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to restore these,” he said. “It’s a labor of love.”

At this time, it appears that Preserve Council Bluffs will not be offering a December tour this year, Andersen said.

“We had some houses lined up, but then some homeowners had some hail damage, and they want to get that taken care of first,” he said.

Reservations are $65 per person/$80 to request a specific house. Group seating will be granted as space allows. Seating is limited. Proceeds will be used to promote preservation in Council Bluffs.

Checks payable to Preserve Council Bluffs should be sent by Sept. 26 to Jim Kieffer, president, 125 S. Third St., Council Bluffs, IA 51503. For more information, email wandersen@cox.net or call (712) 323-2424.