Eclectic mix in Heights home tour

When they moved to the Heights in 2012, Jeff and Blair Ainsworth were drawn to the charm, centralized location and sense of community.

After purchasing their home at 718 E. Ninth St., the couple started an eight-month renovation that transformed their 1920s two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow, adding a bedroom, bathroom, 10-foot ceilings, family room and an office that doubles as a playroom for their young daughter.

"We wanted to show people you could take a small house and make it livable and functional for a larger family," Jeff Ainsworth said. "We wanted to make sure it was a place we could live in for the next 10 years."

The Ainsworths' home will be one of six in this year's Houston Heights Association Spring Home & Garden Tour.

The tour will kick off with the 20th annual Candlelight Dinner and Auction on April 4. The tour, scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. April 5-6, will showcase a variety of traditional and contemporary homes.

The other homes of the tour are as follows:

The "vintage modern" home of Dr. James Flowers and Michael Beard at 401 W. Ninth St. is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1928, the red-brick building served as a neighborhood grocery store.

The 409 W. Eighth St. home of architect Palmer Schooley and his wife Mary has been redesigned to be modern but also blend with the neighborhood. The home has a solar porch at the entry and large garden in the back.

Bobbie Knox Echard's home at 1005 Oxford is a cottage built in 1896 that has undergone major renovations and in 2012 received a community improvement award for residential restoration from the Houston Heights Association.

Susan and Jeffrey Bell's home at 1448 Height Blvd. is known as "the house with the blue gate." Built in 1912, the two-story home was updated in 1993 and 1998 and has a wrap-around porch. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.

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Eclectic mix in Heights home tour