GALLERY: Restored homes to be featured on West Central Home & Garden Tour

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Aug 21, 2022

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – When the 40th annual Mid-West Homes and Gardens Tour kicks off in September, several fully restored homes will be on display.

WANE 15 got a glimpse of one of the houses.

A house in Jones Street which has stood vacant with many fundamental problems for years was recently purchased by estate agent Ben Wahli and his wife.

Months of work have gone into the complete overhaul of the house.

An exterior shot of a formerly vacant house at 1116 Jones Street.

An old image of the damaged interior of a once vacant house at 1116 Jones Street

Here are some things they did:

The walls had to be raised to support the foundations
The roof was leaking and needed to be fixed
They changed the ceilings to be vaulted
Skylights have been installed
The original floors have been ripped out and new hardwood floors have been installed
An upstairs loft has been added

Wahli, who has bought and restored a handful of properties, told WANE 15 that getting projects like this done in the Midwest is important to this community.

“It’s a neighborhood that has always rallied around it and its houses to save the houses. When we came here and became part of the community, we realized how beneficial it was to save houses and not just let them be destroyed or demolished,” Wahli said. “It doesn’t matter what shape they are in, but they need to be saved. It really cut the fabric of the neighborhood, and in a small way we helped push it forward.

Electric Works was another big draw for this project for Wahli. He said they’ve seen a ton of business travelers visit Fort Wayne and the new mixed-use campus just south of downtown will add to that.

“It’s really brought in an influx of capital jobs and created a destination for people who will travel all over northeast Indiana to come here,” he said. “It’s had a positive impact on the neighborhood, on real estate values, and that will translate here as well.”

Wahli plans to list the house on Airbnb and rent it out to visitors.

It will be available for people to come in and look around when the 40th Midwest Home and Garden Tour takes place on September 10-11.

More information about the event can be found here.