Well, there it goes. The residents of the posh neighborhood surrounding Orville Wright's historic mansion at 901 Harmon Ave. couldn't abide the thought of sharing the famous site with the world. They turned out to oppose a request for a special use permit to allow small, controlled tours of the home, which has been in private hands and rarely open to the public for more than half a century. The Oakwood Planning Commission tabled the request until its next meeting in June and urged the Wright Family Foundation to find a compromise with the neighbors.

I decided to solve the problem for everyone. Last night I just moved the whole building to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. Orville himself allowed Henry Ford to cart off the original Wright family home and the bicycle shop where they invented the airplane. Michigan might as well have Hawthorn Hill.

This should make everybody happy. The public will get to see Hawthorne Hill, and Oakwood's residents won't have to endure strangers on their quiet streets or turn their leafy neighborhood into a gated community. What do you think? Post a comment!

The Wright Family Foundation and Dayton History are to present their plan to "dip our toe in the water" with the first public tours of Orville Wright's Oakwood mansion, according to an e-mail from Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandneice of the Wright brothers. Hawthorn Hill is on the National Register, but public tours of the home have been rare, in part out of respect to the quiet residential neighborhood where it's set. NCR turned over the property to the Wright Family Foundation last year. The foundation has been working with Dayton History at Carillon Park to work out a plan for low-impact tours. The plan will get its first public airing at an Oakwood Planning Commission meeting Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in city offices at 30 Park Ave.

Here's the request Lane said the groups have submitted for a "special use zoning (museum) for Hawthorn Hill in order to present the home of one of America’s celebrated sons, Orville Wright, to the general public."

• 3 tours per day, duration of 45 minutes to 1 hour per tour
• 4 days per week, Wednesday – Saturday
• 9 am – 3 pm, Wednesday – Saturday
• Proposed tours originate at Carillon Park and visitors, including the guide/driver, are transported to Hawthorn Hill in a 15 passenger van. All visitor parking will be remote at Carillon Park where tours begin and conclude.
• No admission or retail sales will be permitted on-site at Hawthorn Hill.

Lane explained the thinking behind the plan in her e-mail, which went out to aviation heritage supporters:

"We have asked the commission to grant the 9am-3pm time period for those days, even though the tours will take up only about half of that time, for two reasons. First, this schedule will allow a little time for the home to be opened and closed before and after the tours take place. The guide can turn on the lights, open curtains, etc....  Second, we think those hours will allow us to make some adjustments in the timing of the three tours per day in case the times do not work out well for the neighborhood. So, for example...a 9:30am tour could become a 10:15am tour if this suited the situation better.

"I have discussed our plan with Gretchen Loper, principal of Harman School, and explained to her that we would keep the tours within the school hours so that we would not interfere with the coming and going of children during the morning arrival and the afternoon dismissal. She was very supportive of the proposal. And, the tour vehicle (a small one, like the senior vans) would make its way from the Carillon Park to Hawthorn Hill via Park Ave. to Harman so as not to go by the school. And, for the neighbors, this van would go up the driveway 3 times on tour days, and go down the driveway 3 times on tour days. The van will park in the driveway, near the house, not on the street. We want to keep the "activity" simple and non-intrusive for the neighborhood.

"Our plan includes a tour guide/driver who accompanies the visitors for the ENTIRE tour. We will not allow visitors to explore the full extent of the grounds...there is no need since the most interesting interpretation is of the house itself and its' former occupants and world famous visitors. However, we will provide a restricted area of access outside, but in close proximity to house, for those who might like to take a photo of the exterior. The public can ONLY access Hawthorn Hill by making a reservation and purchasing a ticket at Carillon Park."

She said the groups want to give this model a six-month test run, then review it. She added, "We are COMMITTED to taking great care of Uncle Orv's home AND neighborhood. We are also committed to an enjoyable experience for any visitor who would like to tour one of our nation's treasures. We think we can do all three with the help of our partners and the community."

Lane hopes for a big turnout of supporters for the plan.

In the meantime, you can express your own opinion right here. Should public tours be allowed? Is this a good plan? Post a comment!