Tag Archives: Robin Schuldenfrei

Mansions & Memories: Historic Harrisburg’s Candlelight Tour to showcase Front Street’s finest.

Screenshot 2015-11-23 16.22.41

Grab your warmest sweater, a steaming thermos of coffee and a comfortable pair of walking shoes. It’s time for Historic Harrisburg’s 42nd annual Candlelight House Tour.

“Grand Impressions” is the event’s theme, a fitting name as this year’s treasure hunt will focus on Front Street’s finest homes, businesses and other historic structures—all dressed up for the holidays—that have been transformed in recent years.

The Candlelight House Tour began in 1973, the year that Historic Harrisburg was founded. At the time, the city was emerging from the devastating flood brought on by Tropical Storm Agnes that sparked conversations about demolishing the entire Shipoke neighborhood.

Each year since has featured a geographical theme, focusing on certain neighborhoods that continue to be revitalized and loved.

“This seemed like the year for Front Street,” said David Morrison, acting executive director of the Historic Harrisburg Association.

 

Something Special

In recent years, Front Street has enjoyed a mini-renaissance.

Once the favored address of the city’s magnates, the street’s grand houses and mansions went into prolonged decline starting with the Great Depression. By the 1970s, many had been turned into hospitals, group homes and unkempt office buildings, the street itself becoming a three-lane commuter highway.

But things are changing quickly. Increasingly, these landmarks are being renovated and repurposed, some even reverting to single-family homes. This year, the road itself was returned to two lanes, for the first time since the 1950s.

The tour includes a variety of Front Street buildings, including the DuChant Mansion, Temple Beth El, City House Bed and Breakfast and the Dauphin County Courthouse. It also features some private homes, including the former “Teen Challenge” building that is now the private residence of J. Marc Kurowski.

Kurowski explained that, a few years back, several men bought the property from Teen Challenge to turn it into apartments. Partway through the demolition, they decided to sell it instead. That’s when it caught his eye.

“I love the idea of residential properties on Front Street,” Kurowski said.

After living in Midtown for 15 years, he started looking for a waterfront property, but it took some time before anything grabbed his attention. While he originally planned to live in half of the house and rent the other, he quickly fell in love with the architecture of the 1890s home.

While the inside features many modern conveniences, Kurowski tried to maintain the historic feel of the home on the outside. Perhaps his favorite addition is the roof deck that provides him with space to host parties and fundraisers. It’s also a great escape. Sitting so high up blocks out most of the street noise and gives him beautiful views of the Susquehanna River.

Kurowski noted that a friend suggested he showcase it in the Historic Harrisburg tour.

“I tried my best to create something a little special so that other people could see it and enjoy it,” he said. “I want people to see this and know they can do it, too.”

 

Great Place

Robin Schuldenfrei, a co-chair of this year’s tour, opened up her home in Bellevue Park last year.

“People were just lovely,” Schuldenfrei said of the experience. “They were respectful and polite. And I think they appreciated that, as a Jewish family, we decorated our home for Hanukkah rather than Christmas. It made it a little different for them.”

More than 500 people walked through the house that day, but perhaps the most unexpected guest arrived long before the tour was set to start. One of the former owners heard about the tour but was unable to make it later in the day. Schuldenfrei and her husband gave them a quick tour and learned much of the family’s sentimental history, including the fact that two daughters who grew up there also had their weddings in the home.

“We met neighbors we didn’t know, we made new friends, and we learned more than ever expected,” Schuldenfrei said. “It was exhausting, but it was worth every moment.”

Jeb Stuart, another tour co-chair, has participated for the past 35 years, both as a volunteer with Historic Harrisburg and a homeowner. He first showed a Green Street home he bought straight out of college. His current Front Street home was on the tour in 2009.

“We really want to showcase how livable Harrisburg can be,” Stuart said. “We’ve featured scattered homes on Front Street before but never the street as a whole. There’s so much going on here that it seemed like the time to do it.”

Whether people are wandering into a place of worship, school, home or office space, Front Street has become a diverse place with a lot to offer, he said. The tour not only gives residents and visitors a chance to see these buildings up close, but it offers a chance to understand the city’s history and its future.

“There are tremendous improvements being made in this city nearly every day,” Stuart said. “We want to celebrate that and thank the people who have helped make Harrisburg such a great place to live.”

 

Historic Harrisburg’s “Grand Impressions: A Tour of Front Street” is set for 1 to 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 the day of the tour. More information about where to buy tickets can be found at www.historicharrisburg.com or by calling 717-233-4646. Tickets can be picked up the day of the tour at the Troup Mansion, 3511 N. Front St.

Photo by Robin B Schuldenfrei | CAVU Creative

Continue Reading