Lana Cordes Dishes On What It Takes
The Woman Behind The Home Tour
By Cara DeGette
Editor, GPHN
This year, local Realtor Lana Cordes took the helm of organizing and executing the Park Hill Home Tour, which is a monumental job. The Denver-area native and her husband bought their first home in Park Hill just over three years ago, and has been involved in the community ever since. With the tour now behind her, Cordes sat down to talk about what it takes to pull together the neighborhood association’s largest fundraiser of the year, how she finds the homes to feature, and the coolest part about the volunteer job.
GPHN: This is your first year coordinating the Home Tour. Tell us how that came to happen.
Cordes: I started meeting with a local group Park Hill Realtors and almost immediately volunteered to put on the neighborhood yard sale. Later that year, [former chair] Nina Kuhl asked me to coordinate volunteers for the Home Tour & Street Fair. Once Nina decided to pass the torch on the event, a couple board members and former planning committee members asked me to chair the event.
GPHN: Do you pick the homes on the Home Tour? Tell us how the process works.
Cordes: It’s actually the hardest part of the whole thing! We keep a list of probably a couple hundred homeowners that we’ve talked with from year to year and we just follow up each year. We ask everyone on the committee and the board, along with some other resourceful neighbors, to reach out to anyone that has a tour-worthy home. Once we get a tentative or a firm “Yes,” we tour the home to ensure it makes sense to have it on the tour. We talked to over 100 homeowners from the time I came on board as chairperson in late winter until we nailed down enough homes. It’s difficult to get people to say “Yes” and it takes months and months of calling, knocking on doors, sending emails, and sometimes begging to make it happen. Occasionally a homeowner reaches out to us, but it’s pretty rare. If you want your home on the tour, contact us!
GPHN: What makes a house tour-worthy? Not all of the houses in the tour are huge mansions, and often reflect the eclectic diversity of Park Hill. So what do you look for when deciding which houses to feature?
Cordes: It’s nothing specific that we look for, just something of interest. It could be unique architecture, a nice remodel, interesting history, exceptional interior design, amazing art, etc. It certainly does not have to be a mansion or an expensive home.
GPHN: What is the funnest thing about the Home Tour, from your bird’s eye view?
Cordes: I love getting to know my neighbors and community members. And I love the energy on Home Tour day. Everyone is in a great mood and is enjoying their day.
GPHN: What was the most unexpected (or expected) challenge for putting together the Home Tour?
Cordes: Getting the homes for the tour, for sure. I knew it would be hard, but I couldn’t have anticipated how much work goes into it. Additionally, it’s always a challenge to fill all of our volunteer spots.
GPHN: We had churches on the tour this year, which is really cool. Why did you decide to highlight them? Is this a first for the Home Tour?
Cordes: A neighbor first suggested Temple Micah, since they made a recent move inside Park Hill United Methodist and had a new space to show off. That naturally led us to include United Methodist, which is a landmark in the neighborhood. And then Park Hill United Church of Christ reached out to us (one of those rare moments!). They had recently completed an impressive capital improvements project and wanted to share it with the community. I don’t know if churches have ever been featured in the past. A school (McAuliffe at the Smiley Campus) was featured a few years ago, so it wasn’t the first time a non-house was on the tour. Places of worship are “home” to some people and they contribute a lot to the communities they serve. We were so pleased to include them.
GPHN: What is your favorite feature about your own house? Would you put your house on the tour?
Cordes: I live in a 1942 single-story Tudor. I love the character of my home. Small as it may be, it’s full of charm. Although I think my house is lovely and adorable, I don’t know that it has enough of that “Wow” factor to be tour-worthy. But I would totally do it if I lived in a Wow house!
Editor’s Note: Do you or a friend have home you’d like to share with the community for next year’s Home Tour? Cordes and her crew are already scouting the neighborhood. If you have a lead, email info@greaterparkhill.org.