Vintage Home Tour nets $11,300 for State Theatre

Linda Nash and Gayle Morris love the Auburn State Theatre. They also love home tours in Downtown Auburn. They recently used the latter to help the former in its time of need. Their third Auburn Vintage Home Tour generated $11,300 toward the State Theatre, which has been undergoing a restoration project since the ceiling collapsed on April 18, 2023, forcing its temporary closure. All the homeowners on the vintage tour posed in front of the State Theatre recently for a promotional photo. "They opened their homes for the tour, very gracious," said Nash, the tour coordinator. "I love home tours. Gayle and I love the State Theatre, and I've always wanted to give home tours in Auburn. This is our third home tour to benefit the State Theatre." There were about 375 tickets sold at $30 each for the tour on Nov. 2, "and it was a huge success," Nash said. Said Morris, of Guide Real Estate and tour sponsor, "It's wonderful because we love having the community come out and show up for Downtown Auburn. We also had the Carnegie Library open as well. … I'd lived here my whole life and I hadn't been in the Carnegie Library. They do a lot of really neat special events there." All proceeds will go to the State Theatre, Nash said. "We had five beautiful historic and vintage homes in the Downtown Auburn area, and a lot of people walked the tour," she said. The homes included East Lake and Folk Victorians, American Gothic Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman Bungalow styles, each uniquely decorated. Nash said they hope to do the tour again in two years. "We're looking for homes – vintage, historic," she said. "We're trying to highlight old Auburn."