The Heritage Hills Historic Homes Tour reaches its 60th year on October 24 and 25, and its best-known stop won't be on the route. The 1903 Henry and Anna Overholser Mansion is closed while a long-awaited restoration gets underway. That leaves five private homes, built between 1901 and 1925, to carry the weekend. The first tour in 1967 had no museum stop either. It was six families opening their front doors because the neighborhood needed allies.
The Tour Started Because of a Highway Plan on NW 16th Street
The tour grew out of a fight over a road. In 1966, according to the history kept by Historical Preservation, Inc., the State Highway Department planned a wide boulevard along 16th Street from Broadway to Classen, straight through the middle of the neighborhoods that later became Heritage Hills. That year, a man the history identifies as Shirk asked leaders of the West Highland Parked Neighborhood Association, the Harndale Association and the Classen-Winans Association to meet with him. About 40 neighborhood leaders came. He told them the only way to stop the highway was to organize and get the whole area designated a city historic preservation district.
The city appointed its first Historic Preservation Commission on March 7, 1967. The city council approved the preservation ordinance on February 11, 1969. The house tour began between those two dates. In 1967 the public toured the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hightower, Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Veazey, Mr. and Mrs. O. Alton Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick W. Hunzicker, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ruffin and Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Coley. About 500 people bought tickets at $2 each. The organization's history says the event drew media attention and added to the prestige of living in Heritage Hills. Two years later, on September 8, 1969, leaders of the three neighborhoods met at Capt. Coley's home and formed Historical Preservation, Inc.
So the tour came before the preservation ordinance and before the organization that runs it today. From the start, the reason for it was to show the city that these houses were worth protecting.
Why the Mansion Is Dark This Fall
The Overholser Mansion is owned by the Oklahoma Historical Society and managed by Preservation Oklahoma. It is currently closed for tours and events. According to the mansion's website, Phase 1 of the work covers masonry, window restoration, roof restoration, and new gutters and flashing, and should take about 10 months. The money comes from the Legacy Capital Financing Fund, which the Oklahoma Legislature created. The Oklahoma Historical Society expects to reopen to visitors in 2027. Neither site has announced a firm reopening date or published details beyond Phase 1.
The tour committee moved its base across the street instead of somewhere else in the neighborhood:
"This year, our Tour Hub will be located directly across the street from the historic Overholser Mansion, providing a central gathering place for tour guests throughout the weekend."
The organizers describe the restoration as "long-anticipated" and say they look forward to "celebrating the next chapter of this beloved Oklahoma City landmark." Proceeds from the tour still benefit the Henry and Anna Overholser Museum along with Historical Preservation, Inc. Visitors can't go inside the mansion this year, but their tickets help pay for its upkeep.
Five Houses, in the Order They Were Built
Without the mansion, the 2026 route covers about a quarter century of the neighborhood's building history. Here are the five homes from oldest to newest, using the build years the organizer published and the histories on the Heritage Hills Walking Tour site.
| Built | Address | Style | Original owner or builder | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 525 NW 15th St. | Two-story brick Foursquare | Joseph St. Mary, a cotton brokerage manager | Original construction price listed at $10,000 |
| 1908 | 525 NW 14th St. | Colonial and Victorian | Bertha and Clarence L. Henley | A two-story east addition held a ballroom |
| 1912 | 425 NW 16th St. | Georgian Revival | William I. Clayton, co-founder of Anderson-Clayton Cotton Company | Sits on the street the 1966 boulevard plan targeted |
| 1923 | 301 NW 18th St. | Early English manor | Della and John A. Brown | Built by contractor F.M. Ray |
| 1925 | 904 NW 14th St. | English cottage | Not identified in the walking tour profile | The newest house on this year's route |
The oldest house is older than the landmark it replaces on the route. The organizer dates 525 NW 15th Street to 1901, two years before the Overholser Mansion was finished. Most years the mansion is where visitors see the neighborhood's earliest era. This year they see it in a brick Foursquare built for a cotton brokerage manager.
The 1908 house at 525 NW 14th Street tells a story that has little to do with architecture. Bertha Henley grew up in Macon, Missouri, studied law in her father's office and was admitted to the Missouri bar. She moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1901 and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. In Oklahoma City she helped organize the Committee of 100, which pushed for the city manager form of government. She chaired the state Women's Suffrage Committee the year women won the right to vote. Soon after the house was built, the Henleys added the two-story east wing. Its first-floor room served as a ballroom, and the couple was known for their parties.
Then there's 425 NW 16th Street. William I. Clayton, a cotton broker, built the Georgian Revival house in 1912. It stands on the street where, in 1966, the state planned to run a wide boulevard between Broadway and Classen. Sixty years later it's a tour stop, which is the outcome the first tour was meant to make possible.
Two of the five homes, the 1901 Foursquare and the 1912 Clayton house, are tied to Oklahoma City's cotton trade. The two from the 1920s, the Browns' English manor and the English cottage on NW 14th, show how the neighborhood's taste had turned toward English revival styles by then.
How the Weekend Works
The route is self-guided. Volunteers at each house share history and architectural details. The organizer's 2026 tour page has the logistics, and a few details changed this year:
- Hours and tickets. Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 1 to 5 p.m. both days. Admission is $30, and children under 12 get in free. You can buy tickets online, at the Tour Hub or at any tour home. Cash, checks and credit cards are accepted.
- Parking moves between days. Free parking is at St. Luke's Methodist Church, but at a different spot each day. On Saturday it's the southwest corner of NW 14th Street and N. Harvey Avenue. On Sunday it's the southwest corner of NW 15th Street and N. Robinson Avenue.
- Shuttles. Mercedes-Benz is providing free shuttles between stops all weekend. The tour map shows shuttle stops, parking and the Tour Hub.
- Start anywhere. There's no set starting point. Will Call works at the Tour Hub or at any of the five homes.
- No photos inside. The homeowners asked that guests not take photographs inside the houses.
The Friday event, the Twilight Tour & Diamond Jubilee Dinner on October 23, is sold out. It cost $150 and included a 5 to 7 p.m. home tour, cocktails and a 7:30 p.m. dinner in cocktail attire, all marking 60 years of the tour. To join the waitlist, email [email protected].
The Rest of the Fall, a Few Minutes Away
The tour falls in the middle of a busy stretch of dates nearby. These are confirmed for 2026:
- October 15: Midtown's Bourbon Dinner, 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Ambassador Hotel, 1200 N. Walker Ave. Listed at $145.
- October 22: Tails and Trails at Haunt the Harn, 5 to 8 p.m. at Harn Homestead, 1721 N. Lincoln Blvd. Tickets are $10 for everyone age 2 and up. The evening includes wagon rides, trail walks, candy, story encounters and tours of the historic buildings.
- October 31: According to News 9, Oklahoma City has confirmed trick-or-treating for Saturday, October 31. The city doesn't set hours.
- November 8: LIVE! on The Plaza, noon to 4 p.m. in the Plaza District at 1745 NW 16th St., a block party with live music and food.
In past years, the neighborhood association has held a Kid's Halloween Parade, most recently on October 26, 2025. If you're planning around a 2026 parade, check the association's calendar for a date.
Every one of these five houses comes with a story: the cotton trade, a suffrage leader's ballroom, a boulevard that never got built. Telling that story well is a big part of selling a historic home. If you own a home in Heritage Hills and want to know how its history could shape the way it's presented to buyers, Darian Woolbright and D.W. Real Estate Group would be glad to talk it through. Request a Private Listing Consultation.
