This blog was written by Kathy Ferguson, Board Chair, Central Gardens Association
There are homes in Central Gardens that Memphians have driven past for years and wondered about.
What’s behind that front door? Is the inside as remarkable as the exterior? Who built it? Who lived there? What stories have unfolded within those walls?
For one afternoon each year, we get to answer some of those questions.
Sunday, Sept. 13, the Central Gardens Home & Garden Tour will celebrate its 50th anniversary, opening the doors to eight remarkable private homes along Belvedere Boulevard, Central Avenue and Harbert Avenue. Many are rarely, if ever, open to the public.
The tour isn’t limited to private homes. Two of Central Gardens’ most recognizable landmarks — Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at Peabody and Belvedere and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Central Avenue — will also open their doors to visitors during this year’s Home & Garden Tour.
For those of us who call Central Gardens home, reaching 50 years means much more than putting on a great event. The tour is part of the story of how this neighborhood became what it is today.
A Tour Born from Preservation
The Home & Garden Tour began in 1976, at a time when many residents were leaving Memphis’ urban core for the suburbs. Members of the Central Gardens Association saw something worth protecting here: the architecture, mature trees, walkable streets and history that made this neighborhood special.
The tour was created to show Memphis what was here, encourage reinvestment and build pride in the neighborhood.
Fifty years later, thousands of visitors come each year to explore our 83-block historic district. Central Gardens has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, designated a historic conservation district by the City of Memphis and recognized as a Level III Arboretum, with more than 90 species of trees.
The tour has changed over the years, but its purpose hasn’t: celebrating what makes this neighborhood worth preserving.
Eight Homes and Eight Memphis Stories
We wanted the 50th anniversary tour to be special, and this year’s homes certainly deliver.
At 216 S. Belvedere, visitors can step inside the Italian Renaissance home built by legendary Memphis entrepreneur Abe Plough and his wife, Jocelyn. Further down Belvedere is a rare Mission-style residence and a Colonial Revival once home to an internationally acclaimed concert pianist as well as another Colonial Revival with a colorful connection to Q-Ban Hair Tonic.
Then there are the homes along Central and Harbert.
One has stood for more than a century and has stories involving movie making and an embezzlement scandal. Another, Clanlo Hall, is one of the finest surviving 19th-century homes in Memphis. The 1902 home at 1785 Harbert is considered a premier example of Colonial Revival architecture in Memphis and resembles the Massachusetts Pavilion built for Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
At 1828 Central, visitors will find an Italian Renaissance home constructed from Indiana limestone and built by Joseph M. Fly, whose grocery business once became a national rival to Clarence Saunders’ Piggly Wiggly.
These aren’t museum pieces. They’re homes where people still live, entertain, raise families and figure out how to make century-old architecture work for modern life. That’s part of what makes walking through them so much fun.
Come for the Homes. Stay for the Neighborhood.
The homes may be the stars, but anyone who has attended the tour knows the experience extends well beyond the front doors.
You’ll walk beneath the tree canopy of Belvedere, stop for food and drinks at the Hospitality Center and hear live music throughout the afternoon. This year’s musicians include performances from Stax Music Academy, Iris Collective, Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Memphis, among others. Free shuttles will also run between tour stops.
Hundreds of volunteers help make the tour happen each year, from the docents who share the stories of individual homes to the neighbors helping visitors find their way.
That sense of community may be my favorite part.
For 50 years, homeowners have opened their doors. Volunteers have given their time. Sponsors and local businesses have supported the event. And generation after generation of Memphians has spent a Sunday afternoon walking these streets and discovering something new about their city.
Proceeds from the tour go back into Central Gardens, supporting preservation initiatives, green-space maintenance and community events.
So yes, come because you’ve always wondered what’s behind the doors of those beautiful homes on Central and Belvedere.
But I hope you’ll leave with something more: an appreciation for what can happen when a community decides that a special piece of Memphis is worth caring for and keeps at it for 50 years.
The 50th Anniversary Central Gardens Home & Garden Tour is Sunday, Sept. 13, from 1–6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 the day of the tour.
