It Takes a Village: Home Tours and the Bungalow Bug

April is home tour month (May too). In the past few weeks invitations to events of the kind have been piling up on my desk. This being L.A. I feel I should add we're talking neighborhoods here. This is about family homes, some larger, some smaller. It is not about stars' mansions.

One of the first neighborhoods in L.A. to put on the big showing was Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena which is getting ready for its 22nd annual home tour on Sunday. Bungalow Heaven was Pasadena's first Landmark District. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 900 or so houses in the 16 block area were built at the beginning of the 20th century in the style of the American Arts and Crafts movement. They are treasures. Their owners know this and treat them accordingly.

On Sunday, eight houses will be open to the public; 900 visitors are expected - many of which come every year and from as far away as Arizona. Proceeds from the tour go towards grants for home restoration in Bungalow Heaven, to neighborhood events, and to park equipment.

It takes a village to organize a home tour. More than one hundred volunteers had a hand in this year's event. Mary Gandsey, one of the two women who heads up the home tour committee told me last weekend that they started preparing in July. Mary was born with the bungalow bug. Her grandmother lived in a craftsman home in Long Beach. "Somehow I got it", Mary said. "I just love the style of the houses."

Bungalow Heaven Home Tour
Sunday, April 10, 2011
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tickets are $20 per person

Comments

Reese said…

Hopefully, Penang can be this organized some day. So many amazing colonial era bungalows and shophouses, which would be perfect for a tour like this. But everyone works independently here.

Would also be great to have a tour like this on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, MN. A few houses are open, but otherwise you just have to appreciate them from the outside.

Sometimes it takes an army of volunteers to make it happen, which it sounds like you have in LA.

Thanks,

Mark

April 9, 2011 at 8:09 PM

Lorraine Seal said…

I hope the tour went well, Christina. I remember fondly the beauty of the bungalows of Pasadena.

all the best,
Lorraine

May 3, 2011 at 6:59 AM

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