By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

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They housed 19th-century grocers, firefighters and casket company owners.

Frank Sinatra and Al Jolson slept here. And Elvis enjoyed French cuisine at one of the picturesque abodes.

Two Northern Kentucky river cities are opening 21 historic homes for public tours next weekend. They include old favorites and examples of 19th-century river city architecture never before open to the public.

On Oct. 18 and 19, Newport's East Row Historic Foundation will host Tall Stacks' only official homes tour on the city's east side.

In neighboring Covington, the MainStrasse Village Association and Coldwell Banker are sponsoring the first MainStrasse Village Home/Garden Tour on Oct. 18.

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"It offers people another glimpse into the riverboat era," said East Row resident Mary Beth Crocker, whose 1865 Greek Revival/Italianate house on East Fourth Street is the oldest on the tour. "I see it as just another dimension to the history of Tall Stacks as far as who actually used the riverboats and where the people lived."

Organizers of the MainStrasse tour hope to show people what can be done with old houses and encourage home ownership, said Ginny Meyer, a neighborhood resident and MainStrasse Village Association board member.

"One of the homes is in the process of being rehabbed, and we'll have the drawings and the blueprints up to show what it's going to look like," Meyer said.

The city of Covington will have booths on rehab incentives, Meyer said.

Notable MainStrasse homes include a two-story, wood frame Queen Anne-style Victorian that was moved to its West Sixth Street location in 1900 from Goebel Park. Tourists also can visit the two-story brick Italianate home of mid-19th century Covington coppersmith Henry Ranshaw, the three-story brick Second Empire style home of 19th century surgeon John H. Blau, and the 21/2-story brick Italianate home originally occupied in the 1880s by Henry Rechtien, captain of Covington's Fire Co. No. 1.

Highlights of the East Row tour include an 1870s restored Italianate home on Washington Avenue built for grocer John Anderson that features gas lamps. In 1913, it was transformed into a Victorian boarding house and restaurant.

Over the years the house has been a boarding house, restaurant, day care, charm school and nursing home, although it may be best known as the Beverly Hills Barracks. From the 1940s through the 1960s, it hosted showgirls from Newport's casinos and stars appearing at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, including Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

---E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com