The historic preservation work in Oakwood is truly commendable. Up here in Wakefield, our homeowners association guidelines are quite strict about maintaining a uniform aesthetic, which prevents us from having this kind of architectural variety, but it certainly keeps the property values steady. I always enjoy reading the meeting minutes from the historic districts to see how they balance modern utility with preservation guidelines. Sometimes I wish our committee meetings had half as much passion as your preservation debates, though dealing with fence color disputes weekly makes me want to scream into my lawnmower.

It is a wonderful tour. For anyone inspired by the Oakwood tour to tackle their own exterior projects, please do not let the historic district designation scare you away. The city design review process is very collaborative. Step one is a simple consultation with the planning department. Step two is submitting your site plan. Inspections for historic work are straightforward because the inspectors want to preserve the character of Raleigh as much as we do. It is much easier than people think.

The Oakwood tour is beautiful, but please learn from my mistake years ago. I wore a pair of brand new, stylish sandals to tour the brick walkways and ended up catching my toe on an uneven historic paver near East Street. I spent the rest of the spring in a walking boot with a sprained ankle. Old brick is gorgeous, but tree roots from those massive oaks will heave the walkways over time. My takeaway is to always wear sturdy trail shoes when visiting historic districts, no matter how nice the weather is.

The parking for this event is always an adventure. I usually end up parking blocks away near the cemetery and walking in. Does anyone know if any local historic restoration carpenters have actual availability this summer? I have been waiting on a quote to repair three simple porch columns for months now. It seems like everyone is booked out until winter.

Those old historic fireplaces are beautiful to look at during the tour, but I hope the current owners have had their flues lined. Old brick chimneys can develop cracks in the mortar joints over a century of use, which presents a major draft and fire hazard. Safety should always come first when dealing with historic heating systems.