WELCOME BACK FOR THE SPRING HOUSE AND GARDEN TOURS! We’ve been looking forward all winter to the house tour season: houses are open, gardens are in bloom. Watch this space for more house tours, added when information is available. Send updates to housetoursdcmetro@msn.com
Here are some dates to get you started! More house tours coming soon…
End of March-early November 2012. Garden Conservancy Open Days. The 2012 Open Days season includes gardens from southern Maine to southern California, from the tip of Long Island, New York to Bainbridge Island, Washington. The program is a series of private gardens open to the public during scheduled days and times. Open Days garden tours are self-guided and flexible. The 2012 schedule has not yet been announced, and there will be gardens open in the Virginia, Maryland, and DC. http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays
Apr 14-May 13, 2012. (Sat and Sun 12:00-5:00. Tues-Fri 10:00-3:00) The 2012 DC Design House, a seven bedroom house on wooded property located at a prominent Spring Valley intersection, will be redecorated by a team of about 20 designers. The house, which has been in the same family since 1956, is known to local Washingtonians as the “Blue Christmas House” or “Elvis House,” as in past years its entire perimeter was decked out for the holidays in thousands of blue lights. It is on the market for $3.9 million. “This gracious Georgian house was on our short list last year because we were so impressed by the bones of the house and the beautiful setting, said the chair of this event, which raises money for Childrens National Medical Center. The house is located at 4951 Rockwood Parkway, NW, Washington, DC. http://www.dcdesignhouse.com
Apr 21-28, 2012. (Gardens are usually open 10:00 to 4:00 or 5:00) Historic Garden Week in Virginia. Every April, visitors are welcomed to more than 250 of Virginia’s most beautiful gardens, homes, and historic landmarks during “America’s Largest Open House.” Historic Garden Week provides visitors a unique opportunity to see unforgettable gardens at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color, as well as beautiful houses sparkling with fabulous flower arrangements. Tour proceeds fund the restoration and preservation of Virginia’s historic gardens. http://www.vagardenweek.org
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
- Franklin
- Historic Ashland
- Lake Gaston – Bracey and Ebony
- Old Town Alexandria
- Olde Towne Portsmouth
- Staunton
- Winchester
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Monday April 23, 2012
Tuesday April 24, 2012
Wednesday April 25, 2012
- Harrisonburg – Rockingham County
- Martinsville – Henry County
- Newport News
- Northern Neck – Lancaster County
- Richmond – The Boulevard
- Virginia Beach
Thursday April 26, 2012
Friday April 27, 2012
Saturday April 28, 2012
April 2012 (dates to come). Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club Decorator Show House. New York City. Bunny Williams and Charles Pavarini have been announced as chairs of this event. More information to come when it is available. http://kipsbay.org/fundraising-events
Apr 28 (Sat) Noon to 6:00. Hollin Hills House & Garden Tour. Hollin Hills, the award-winning mid-century modern neighborhood in Alexandria, VA., will host a self-guided walking tour showcasing examples of mid-century modern architecture and landscape, including a pre-tour lecture by Tom Kerns, FAIA, at 11:00 am, Hollin Meadows School. Mr. Kerns designed nearly 60 additions for Hollin Hills homes. Tickets are limited. http://www.hollinhills.net/index.php/house-and-garden-tour/house-a-garden-tour-2012
Apr 28 (Sat) 11:00-5:00. The Georgetown House Tour. This year’s tour features eight to twelve of Georgetown’s most beautiful homes and their impressive gardens. http://www.georgetownhousetour.com
April 2012 White House Garden Tour Schedule (to be announced). The White House Garden Tours have been a tradition since 1972 when Pat Nixon first opened the White House gardens to the public. Visitors are invited to view the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Rose Garden, Children’s Garden and South Lawn of the White House. The Kitchen Garden, a new addition to the South Lawn, will be viewable from a distance along the tour route. There will be a visual explanation to help educate visitors on the elements of the garden. The White House gardens are open to the public in the Spring and in the Fall.
May. Takoma Park House and Garden Tour (Maryland). No information yet about the 2012 tour. http://www.historictakoma.org
May 5 (Sat) 10:00-4:00. Georgetown Garden Tour. This year’s tour will feature 9 of Georgetown’s most spectacular gardens. Sponsored each year by the Georgetown Garden Club, the garden tour has featured a wide variety of gardens with spacious sweeping lawns and majestic trees to intimate outside rooms. Christ Church, 31st and O Streets, NW, will serve as headquarters for the Tour. In addition to purchasing tickets at the Church, you may also peruse the unique Garden Boutique which will offer beautiful topiaries, fine porcelain vases, and unusual gardening tools for sale. http://www.georgetowngardentour.com/index.html
May. Lake Barcroft Women’s Club Artists and Artisans Tour. No information yet about the 2012 event. http://www.artinlb.com
MORE SPRING AND SUMMER DATES TO BE ADDED SOON…
TOURS AND TIDBITS OF NOTE OUTSIDE THE DC AREA
Classical American Homes Preservation Trust. Featuring some of America’s finest houses built in classical Greek or Roman style in the early 19th Century – like Edgewater, built in 1824 on the Hudson River in upstate New. Distinctive homes are in Charleston and Pinewood, SC; Barrytown and Hillborough, NC; New York, NY; and St. Croix, Virgin Islands. http://www.classicalamerican.org/html/canegarden_history.html
Design Tripper. Website for those who want to explore the intersection of travel and design. Meghan McEwen started designtripper for two very simple reasons: 1. She loves looking inside other people’s homes, especially their second ones, and she’s perpetually planning her next trip. Having spent an exorbitant amount of time researching (and obsessing over) interesting, independent places to stay, it seemed like a terrible waste to not share the findings. 2. She thinks the intersection of travel and design is a common crossroads. Find unique rental homes all over the world. http://www.designtripper.com
Designer Houses for Rent in the UK: Experience great architecture first-hand in Spring 2010. These are not your quaint cottage. http://www.living-architecture.co.uk/index.asp
VIRTUAL HOUSE TOURS. Visit the following websites for virtual tours of interesting homes:
Apartamento. Billed as an everyday life interiors magazine. Everyday, that is, if your life is a little messy, but way cool. Published out of Milan and Barcelona for indie design movement followers. http://www.apartamentomagazine.com/current.html
Apartmenttherapy.com. Cozy casa in Norfolk, VA. You’ll also see great homes in NY, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/house-tours/house-tour-berto-marys-cozy-casa-norfolk-virginia-082280
Atticmag.com. Virginia Farmhouse Modern. Also check out “10 Great Historic Homes.” http://www.atticmag.com/2009/06/house-tour-virginia-farmhouse-modern
Author Alice Randall’s charming Nashville home. Randall tells us why she bought the house, what her furniture means to her, and how it influences her work. http://www.alicerandall.com/
Curbed.com. Luxury homes for sale in New York, the Hamptons, San Francisco, Los Angeles, with home photos and details, real estate gossip, and news. http://ny.curbed.com/
Dickinson, Emerson, Wharton, Twain… A guide to the real author’s homes listed (or not) in the fictional memoir An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Home in New England. http://arsonistsguide.com/homes.html
Freshome.com. Devoted to interior design and architecture. http://freshome.com/
Home & Design. The magazine of architecture and fine interiors in the Baltimore and Washington area. http://www.homeanddesign.com
Homebodies. Blog by interior/design writer Liz Arnold covering homes she visits, showing how people really live, not all glossed up, and sometimes on the wrong side of the pergola. http://lizarnold.blogspot.com
Off the Map. Backyard Paradises of artists from around the globe. Visit the works of ten untrained, visionary artists who have transformed their part of the world in rare and startling ways. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/offthemap
Small Living Journal. The project of nine writers actively involved in living simply share photos of their homes and their personal journeys in smaller living. http://smalllivingjournal.com/about/
The Selby Is in Your Place. Todd Selby’s project offers an insider’s view of creative individuals in their personal spaces with an artist’s eye for detail. The Selby began in June 2008 as a website where Todd posted photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. http://www.theselby.com/
The Washington Post Home & Garden section. Local home and gardening trends, advice, and information. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artsandliving/homeandgarden/
Trendir.com. Modern house design and trends. http://www.trendir.com/house-design/
Washington Home & Garden magazine. Covering a variety of home and garden topics with a focus on the DC area. http://www.whgmag.com/
 |
2010 Design House in Chevy Chase, MD.
The pool at the Design House with larger-than-life heat lamps.
I’m toying with the idea of redecorating the my home’s interior, but I have no idea where to begin. In your opinion, what room is the easiest to start with when converting to a shabby chic motif?