Homes and more on display in Historic Hyde Park

TAMPA Mark Mathiason will live in his newly finished home only a few weeks before having about 1,000 visitors. Thats because he volunteered his Craftsman-style home to be among the eight Hyde Park residences open Feb. 28 for the annual Historic Hyde Park Home Tour.

Brave is one word, stupid is another, he quips about if the craftsmen will complete their sawing and drilling in time. He bought the place last year but wasnt able to get cranking until September.

Sponsored by the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit neighborhood association since 1996, the tour features various private homes in the neighborhood. Proceeds for the tour are used to fund the HHPNAs operations and projects, including area restoration and historic signage.

Projects like those, however, arent what drew the Mathiasons to the neighborhood.

We just love Hyde Park. We can walk to the village and eat at all the different places, he said about his familys choice to move to the area.

That family includes daughter, Kendall, 16, 17-year-old Florida State University student son Braden and furry family member Scout. Visitors, no doubt, will be in awe and take home plenty of DIY ideas.

He likes discussing his architecturally sensitive renovations. For instance, he removed a closet in a guest room, replaced it under nearby stairs and transformed the new space into a spacious, upscale kitchen.

Mathiason, who owns Mortgage Corporation of America, is the third owner of the home.

The Maynard-Hirsch family, instrumental in early Tampa history, lived there from the 1920s.

Bill Hirsch, a Tampa CPA, is sorry many neighboring homes didnt survive the wrecking ball.

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Homes and more on display in Historic Hyde Park