The F.Q. Story Historic Neighborhood was named after the prestigious land-owner of the area in the 1900's - Francis Quarles Story. The district boundary runs from McDowell Rd. south to Roosevelt St. and from Seventh Ave. west to Grand Ave. The Neighborhood consists of 602 homes that were constructed from the late 1920s through the late 1940s. A variety of architectural styles are featured, including Spanish Colonial Revival, English Tudor, Craftsman bungalows and Transitional Ranch.
Our goal is to showcase between 8 - 12 homes and 5-10 gardens per year. Our exact totals fluctuate from year to year.
Park on any of the neighborhood streets. Be aware some streets closer to the fair grounds are marked for permit parking.
To view the interior of the homes on tour, you must purchase a ticket. However, you're free to roam the sidewalks and vendor areas without a ticket. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the tour at the ticket booth or online starting November 1st through Cyber Monday (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) 2024. Click here for ticket info.
Once you purchase your ticket, you’ll be able to enter each of the homes and gardens on tour. A host will greet you, marking your ticket, which shows that you’ve entered the home. Then you can walk through unrestricted areas of the homes at your leisure.
The Story Holiday Home Tour typically attracts a few thousand attendees.
Even though every home on tour is numbered, you don’t have to visit the homes in any certain order. If there is a line at one home, you can always go to the next one and then come back to the home you skipped. Ollie the Trolley can also help get you around to see the homes.
The homeowners of the F.Q. Story neighborhood want to share the beauty, integrity and distinctiveness of their architectural heritage by opening their homes for you.
On Saturday night, the entire tour route will be lined with beautiful luminarias.
Vendors are located in a closed section of the street hosting the tour. The Holiday Street Marketplace will offer food and gift vendors on Saturday from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM only. Saturday evening from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM, there will be holiday music and some food trucks and beverages available.
Yes, we have several public restrooms for your convenience.
Even though all the homes are within a few blocks, on Saturday we do have a trolley that will be stopping at the homes on tour (with the exception of the homes that are on the 900 block which will only be open for foot traffic).
Although most homeowners do not have a problem with picture taking, we would suggest that before you start taking any pictures that you check with the homeowners.
Keep in mind that there will be many visitors on the day of the tour. If your pet is small and can be carried through the homes, that would be okay. Again we suggest discretion in this. You will see many visitors walking their pets on Sunday through the arts and crafts displays. Possibly have a friend stay with your pet while you are walking through the homes.
Please remember that the homes in Story were built in the 1920’s and 1930’s, before ADA compliance was mandated. Some homes are built above crawl spaces and hallways and doors are narrower and smaller than homes are built today. Many of our homes can be accessed only by steps, and we cannot guarantee wheelchair accessibility. However, many of the garden spaces are accessible. Please contact us directly to confirm if you can access those spaces without a ticket purchase: fqstoryhometour@gmail.com!
Proceeds from the F.Q. Story Home Tour & Holiday Street Marketplace, the only fundraiser for the Story Preservation Association held annually, go to continuing efforts to supporting historic integrity, hosting community events, publishing our newsletter, maintaining the website, integrating our efforts with other historic neighborhoods and helping spread the word about the vitality of life in a historic community. Story Preservation Association also supports the students at neighborhood schools: Franklin Police and Fire High School through their food pantry & uniform closet and The Family School, serving early childhood development for children ages 3 - 6.
Dust off your galoshes, grab an umbrella and count your blessings! The Tour goes on rain or shine!