Palm Sunday Tour of Homes

I’ve always loved looking at houses. I enjoy examining various architectural styles. I like seeing all the different ways people decorate their homes -- the art work they choose, the furniture, the color schemes. For many years in my 20s and 30s, I was a part time home care respiratory therapist, in addition to the hospital work. My favorite part of the job was getting to go into peoples’ homes. Some patients were so proud of their homes, they’d give me a tour. Other houses, I couldn’t wait to get out of – you know the type. I love looking at houses so much, for a short time, I considered becoming a real estate agent, so I could see homes and earn income at the same time. But then I decided the math involved was more than I cared for.

Anyway, the 38^th annual Palm Sunday Tour of Homes here in Lake Charles last weekend seemed an obvious choice of entertainment for me. Each year, the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society picks a certain historic part of town and features 5-6 homes from that neighborhood. All I can say is, these homeowners who volunteer to open their homes to the public like that are brave souls.

I’ve heard of this home tour for several years, but until this year, there was always some reason or another I couldn’t attend. So I was very excited to be able to go this year. Tickets are a reasonable ten dollars. And this year, exclusive lakefront properties on desirable Shell Beach Dr. were featured. Who wouldn’t want to see the inside of some of these houses?

Obviously, everyone wanted to see them! I wasn’t expecting the throngs of people, all very orderly and patient. It was like an amusement park where you wait in line an hour for a 3-minute ride. Out of curiosity, I would like to know how many hundreds of people attended this event. If anyone knows, please tell me. I did read on their website, it was an "unprecedented number."

 

So while I do love touring fabulous homes, I’m not so fond of crowds. Or long lines. But I put that bit about me aside and truly enjoyed seeing each of the five houses.

This place, The Walker House, was amazing.

 

 

But my favorite was The Boyer House. Not sure why I didn’t get photos. It was the last place we looked at, and I was quite tired by that point, and I guess I forgot about my camera. But you can see a photo of it, and many more photos of the tour, on the Preservation Society’s website here.

Lake Charles readers, did you attend this home tour? What was your  impression?