On April 27-28, the Heart of the Home tour will celebrate its 30th anniversary with five distinctive houses in Piedmont and Oakland.
Lunch and a pop-up boutique at Piedmont Community Center will also be featured, as will a special-anniversary VIP ticket and another chance for the community to support the work of Children’s Support League by raising money for at-risk children in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Though not official, the tour’s theme is “this is more than a home tour; it’s all about the kids,” which has resulted in Children’s Support League donating more than $3.6 million to more than 100 agencies in the last 29 years.
This year the tour homes include a Piedmont Classic; an expanded, renovated Jacobean Tudor; a Spanish Revival; a remodeled traditional contemporary and a newly built Mediterranean.
“Each of the houses is different this year, which I think is really nice,” said Melanie Wallace, one of the tour’s co-chairs. “I think the tour shows people who have a variety of tastes what they can do.”
The homes also share one important element, a gesture to tradition while creating modern, livable, family-oriented, indoor-outdoor spaces. The Piedmont Classic, designed in 1904, is a multigenerational house. The owner grew up there, bought it from his mother and is raising his own family there, making it into a new house with all the old features.
“It’s a juxtaposition of modern, a bit of Craftsman and the family’s own taste,” said Brooke Hauch, another tour co-chair. “There’s an extensive enormous kitchen remodel that accesses the beautiful outdoors.”
The Jacobean Tudor, also in Piedmont, reflects the family’s lifestyle and interests. Understated colors and furnishings serve as a backdrop for mementos of travel, love of art and music. The modern kitchen and cozy family room are surrounded by windows into the garden.
Central Piedmont’s Spanish Revival retains ironwork, tile details and other fixture of the 1925 home that blend with the comfortable, family-friendly furnishings. The kitchen, the heart of the home, has direct access to a walled front garden.
“It shows how to take something that has a period look and make it more comfortable, livable for today’s lifestyle,” Wallace said.
The remodeled traditional contemporary in upper Rockridge has sweeping bay views and an open feel with clean lines and white oak. It’s a modern contemporary built to show off the owner’s extensive art collection.
The newly built Mediterranean in upper Rockridge uses subdued colors and a fresh look to show off eclectic décor, while every room is furnished for comfort. An atrium feel adds to the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces.
In all, the five houses exemplify the variety in Piedmont and Oakland, a house for everyone and many ways to make them match your personality.
At the center of the event is a patio lunch at Piedmont Community Center, where vendors GrilledCheezGuy and Southern Comfort Kitchen will serve tempting selections with Fentons Creamery’s scooping station offering ice cream to all tour ticket holders.
At the Popup Boutique specialty vendors will sell jewelry, home décor and special gift items. This year’s VIP ticket opens the doors to two additional homes, each distinctive and very different in style. Ticket holders are first invited April 25 to the 30th Anniversary Kickoff Gala at an Italianate estate, with live jazz and catering by Barbara Llewellyn.
As a 30-year tribute, Wallace and Hauch have attempted to invite every previous tour homeowner to attend as a thank-you for their generosity and spirit of community.
On the morning of April 27, a casual breakfast will be held in the garden of a Craftsman-style home completely remodeled into a sleek modern, awarded the 2017 Piedmont Award for Excellence in a Major Remodel in a Modern Style. The guest speaker will be Lori Fogarty, the Oakland Museum of California’s director and CEO, speaking on reaching out to children and the museum’s role in the community.
Children’s Support League is proud that a very small all-volunteer group of women has been able to make such an impact on children at risk in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, supporting programs that provide food and shelter, prevent child abuse, support special-needs children, provide education, improve mental health for youth and teens and improve outcomes for children in the adoption and foster care systems.
In honor of 30 years, they have set up a very aggressive goal for this year’s home tour, knowing that raising more funds will allow them to give grants to more agencies and kids.
“We want to encourage all of our loyal supporters to upgrade to a VIP ticket if they want to give more,” Hauch said. “We think it will be a really great experience and it will help us raise more money.”
FYI
What: Heart of the Home Tour
When: 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. April 27-28
Tickets: $50 in advance for tour only; $60 for tour and lunch, VIP tickets, $150; day of tour tickets, $60 for tour only, $70 for tour and lunch; available at Piedmont Community Center, 711 Highland Ave., or at wehelpkids.org.