HCC's home and garden tour is Sept. 15
The 42nd annual Home & Garden Tour, presented by Heights Community Congress (HCC), will be held on Sunday, Sept.15, from noon to 6 p.m. This year’s theme is Timeless Elegance, and the tour will feature homes and gardens in Cleveland Heights' historic Coventry and Fairmount neighborhoods.
The five homes on the tour, two of which have gardens, were all designed and built in the early 20th century, and are a testament to the timelessness of quality workmanship. Their elegance is displayed in ornate carved woodwork, beautiful molding and plaster friezes, hand-wrought ironwork, and expert tile work, among the many special features. There are also three stand-alone gardens to visit on the tour. Refreshments will be available at Fairmount Presbyterian Church from 2 to 4 p.m.
This year’s featured homes comprise an English manor house with an enviable collection of vinyl records and CDs, and a lush border garden; a “sister” house next door with contemporary furnishings, and a renovated kitchen with an eye-catching green marble table; a bright and spacious Tudor house that combines contemporary, art nouveau, and Craftsman-style furnishings with an intriguing mix of contemporary, and sometimes offbeat, artwork; a classic medieval-style house, owned by a self-described Anglophile, and notable for its carved woodwork and motifs, and its clay-tiled roof; and an English cottage and garden, first owned by a Cleveland toymaker and designed to appear larger than its actual size.
Then, there are the gardens: a playful, colorful space integrating many found objects of glass, wood and iron carefully placed by its imaginative owner; a garden of plants, birdhouses and feeders, as well as habitats for pollinators, such as bees and butterflies; and a backyard garden that features a flowery border of annuals and perennials around a travertine patio.
The traditional preview party is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 14, in Tucker Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A limited number of tour sponsorships and preview party tickets may still be available by calling HCC at 216-321-6775 before Friday, Sept. 6.
Tickets for the Sunday tour can be purchased online at www.heightscongress.org, or in person at Appletree Books, Bremec’s on the Heights, Dunn Hardware, Heinen’s at South Green Road, Stone Oven on Lee Road, Tommy’s restaurant, and Zagara’s Marketplace. The cost of tour-only tickets is $20 per person through Labor Day, and $25 thereafter, including the day of the tour.
Susan Roberts
Susan Roberts led the home search for Heights Community Congress's Tour Planning Committee this year.