The last stop of the day. Here, tile enthusiast Dotty Tennis had arranged a walking tour through historic homes on or adjacent to Center Street. Several of the homes, built in the early years of the 20th century, had magnificent Moravian tile mantels. I think we saw five different configurations in all! Dotty then hosted us to tea and cakes at her own home where we saw several examples of rare Unitiles from Uhrichsville installed in the stucco and brick. Unitiles were produced by the Donahey brothers in Uhrichsville, Ohio from 1917 to 1927. Ashland, a town of some 21,000 people, certainly lived up to its name as “The World Headquarters of Nice People.”

When you’re into tiles, you can never say goodbye to Ohio, the cradle of tile manufacturing in the United States. There is always more to see even where you’ve already been and we’d like to thank our hosts for making this a most memorable week for all of us, one where we learned so much and yet were able to share our own knowledge and as we honed our expertise.

Sheila Menzies