Downtown Franklin resident Marti Veto has been named chair of the 38th Annual Town & Country Tour of Homes, to be held June 1 and 2 in and around historic Franklin.
The event, produced by the Heritage Foundation of Franklin & Williamson County, is designed to showcase old homes in an effort to underscore the importance of historic preservation. This year’s tour includes properties from the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as modern interpretations of Federal, Victorian and French Country-style homes in a newer neighborhood.
Veto, who bought her ca. 1920 Craftsman-style bungalow in 2007 on West Main Street, opened her restored home to the Tour of Homes in 2008.
“I love my downtown neighborhood—the history each house represents, the stories shared about previous owners, and most of all the ability to walk down the street and be in the heart of a bustling but well-preserved community,” Veto said. “The Heritage Foundation is one of the reasons it’s been so successful, and this tour is a deep-seated tradition.”
A native of Somerset, Ky., Veto came to Franklin from San Francisco, where she worked in the biotech industry. In 2009, she was tapped to lead the Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, cultivating the organization to a point where it was happy to be absorbed into the newly unified Williamson County Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, she has launched Marti Veto Strategic Communications, a marketing consultancy.
“In my years of promoting life-saving biotech medicines, I won a lot of awards,” she says. “Now I just want to be a catalyst for others to reach their performance goals.”
The Tour includes the ca. 1849 Pleasant View Farm—better known locally as Gentry Farm—in the countryside on Highway 96 West. Both the 1869 home place and an early 1800s log cabin on the farm will be open to the public. Across the street in the Westhaven neighborhood, three contemporary homes that nod to local history will be part of the tour.
Also participating is the early 1900s Leiper’s Fork Inn on Old Hillsboro Road; a ca. 1910 Southern Colonial Revival home and garden on 2nd Avenue South and the Historic Reynolds Bungalow, built in 1915, on South Margin Street in downtown Franklin; and Ty’s House, the recently renovated ca. 1905 Second Empire-style home on Mt. Hope Street that now serves as the headquarters of the Hard Bargain Association.
Since 1967, the not-for-profit Heritage Foundation’s mission has been to protect and preserve the architectural, geographic and cultural heritage of Franklin and Williamson County, and to promote the ongoing economic revitalization of downtown Franklin in the context of historic preservation.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.historicfranklin.com or call Kristy Williams at (615) 591-8500 x18.