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V.M. Ybor home tour touts history

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By KATHY STEELE

ksteele@tampatrib.com

Published: October 21, 2009

YBOR - An eclectic mix of history and architectural styles will be on display for V.M. Ybor's first annual home tour Sunday.

Among eight homes on the tour are Tampa crime boss Charlie Wall's 1920s home and a former convent. The historical and award-winning Cuscaden Pool, built in the 1930s with labor hired by the federal Work Projects Administration, also is on the tour.

V.M. Ybor "has so much history to pull from," said Kim Headland, president of the V.M. Ybor Neighborhood Association.

The neighborhood of more than 3,000 residents is just north of Ybor City and south of Southeast Seminole Heights.

Wall ran numbers games in Tampa in the 1930s and 40s. He was slain in 1955 but no one ever was arrested for the deed.

Residents Brian Taylor and Ann-Eliza Musoke Taylor bought a house about seven years ago that once was used as a convent. "There was a closet full of (nun's) habits. All the walls were white," Brian Taylor said.

The house probably was built in 1914, though Taylor said it could be a few years older. The two-story home has three bedrooms, an upstairs sunroom and a large foyer. One of the distinctive features is a large wrap-around porch, Taylor said.

"We love it," he said of Ybor's multicultural neighborhood. "Everyone looks out for one another."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Home tour sponsored by V.M. Ybor Neighborhood Association
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; Wall house is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. only.

WHERE: Self-guided tours start at Columbus Drive and Avenida Republica de Cuba (14th Street)

COST: $10 in advance; buy tickets at www.vmybor.org or pick up an Advanced Ticket Price Coupon from LaSegunda Bakery, 2512 N. 15th St. or King Corona Cigars, 1523 E. Seventh Ave.; $15 day of event

INFORMATION: Contact Kim Headland at (813) 263-7388 or kim.headland@vmybor.org.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

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