Palm Sunday Tour of Homes 2016

Lake Charles embodies so much historical relevance. One way to experience this history is to attend the annual Palm Sunday Tour of Homes, an event sponsored by the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society. Each year they highlight a different historically significant area of town and open homes to the public to view and learn the stories behind the homes.

Bob and I have enjoyed three of these tours in the past four years. You can read last year's post (a hodge podge of various home locales) here, and the 2013 Tour (Shell Beach Dr.!) here.

This 41st Palm Sunday Tour of Homes featured properties in the delightful Charpentier District. I think that is French for carpenter. Many of the homes in this downtown neighborhood were built around the turn of the 20th century by lumber barons and other leaders of the Lake Charles community. A bonus this year -- all the homes were in close easy walking distance of each other and we had a warm sunny spring day to experience them.

Historic Central School , built in 1912, served as Tour headquarters. The building is now home to the Arts and Humanities Council, several art studios and art organizations, and the Mardi Gras Museum, which was open to the public that day. (This photo only courtesy of Google images. The rest are my own.)



902 Kirby -- Queen Anne-Victorian house, circa 1900, for Edna and George H. Rock. This couple raised thirteen kids here!

Across the street, 903 Kirby is a good example of a "two-bay side-hall house," an all-American house style suited to narrow urban lots.

917 Kirby -- a traditional American foursquare; four rooms to the floor, two stories and a center staircase. Massive amounts of fascinating antiques in this place!

736 Pujo St. -- circa 1905. Fabulous wrap-around porches and fourteen columns were added later.

This, in their backyard. There's something magical about vintage brick walls . . . 

832 Iris St. -- Originally a two story, the second floor was lost decades ago to a fire. It is now a charming cozy cottage.

Oh, and the azaleas were in peak bloom. Perfect timing for the Tour of Homes!

Unique in the Charpentier District, 1010 Reid St. boasts a Caribbean plantation flair, manicured gardens, and a pool.

Something different this year -- instead of only homes on the tour, the Preservation Society included a historic church . . . 

701 Kirby St. circa 1919, is home to the Christian Science Church. An example of good stewardship of resources, the church building is a early rare example of adaptive reuse: a military structure originally built for war converted into a place of worship.

. . . and a bonsai garden at 916 Kirby St. by gardener Alan Walker.

So that's the 2016 Palm Sunday Tour of Homes! Looking forward to another great Tour next year.

Palm Sunday Tour of Homes 2015

Call me curious, but looking at homes is sheer entertainment for me. So I want to thank the Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society for planning the perfect annual event -- the Palm Sunday Tour of Homes. I experienced the Tour two years ago and wrote this post. This past Sunday was equally enjoyable.

This year was different -- instead of featuring several homes in a single neighborhood, so you can park and then walk from house to house, this year's four featured homes were spread out across the city. But each one was unique and fascinating!

Our first stop was the Ryder Home at 825 Division St., circa 1900. This place wins my prize for the most interesting furnishings. The Ryders collect art and antiques, and their home bursts with color and unusual fun things to look at. And it's a lovely home. My favorite part is the large breezy wraparound porches on both floors. Unlike the tour two years ago where we waited in long lines to see each house, this was the only house where we experienced a line.

Below is the Brennan Home at 1010 Enterprise Blvd. Bob and I have always called it "the purple house." Simple and comfortable, this turn-of-the-last-century home also has wonderful porches -- in addition to the front porch, there is one off the kitchen and one upstairs off the master bedroom that overlook a surprisingly spacious back yard.

The Guilott Home at 4507 Young Lane wins my prize for the quirkiest home on the tour. It is a round house. Truly. When you walk in the front door, the entryway is part of a circular hallway that creates a  ring around a sunken round living room. The kitchen, dining area, three bedrooms, and a powder room sit at angles off the hallway, like spokes on a wheel. It was built in 1964 and was considered a "futuristic" home. Architect Gilbert Spindel called this home design "Geodesica." Only eight of these homes exist in the United States. Adding to the intrigue, the owner has been true to the era and tastefully decorated the home with vintage 1960s furniture and furnishings, right down to the plush orange carpet in the living room.

The grandest home with the biggest wow factor on this year's tour was the Alexander/Dees Home, in Grand Lake. What is most fascinating is that this house was built in Lake Charles around 1890 and moved to Grand Lake, beginning around 1975. They completely deconstructed the home and moved it, piece by piece, rebuilding it over the course of ten years. It's a fabulous home for entertaining.

The oak trees there are amazing.

Bob says the sky blue porch roof confuses wasps and deters nest-building.

In the backyard.

A flock of peacocks freely roams the property.

Can't wait to find out what homes will be on next year's Palm Sunday Tour of Homes!

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?