Everyone loves to see how the other half lives. Here in the Tampa Bay area, home tours provide many opportunities to peek behind the curtains (sometimes literally!).
The 2019 home tour season gets underway in March with Gulfport’s Pink Flamingo Tour of Homes and the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Home Tour.
Every year the first-Saturday-in-March Pink Flamingo tour takes in a section of the city. The March 2 tour, “Sashay by the Seaside,” covers the area west of Beach Blvd. S and south of Gulfport Blvd.
Now in its 14th year, the tour celebrates “our unique little town,” said 2019 co-chair April Thanos. Former chair Karen Love said working the 2011 tour convinced her Gulfport was where she wanted to live. “I worked as a volunteer in a home with bone faucets, moss growing on the ceiling, and the bathtub in the backyard outside living room. I was hooked on the funkiness that Gulfport homes had to offer.”
A fundraiser for the Gulfport Merchants Chamber, tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For more information click topinkflamingohometour.com.
If you hurry across the bridge on March 2 you can take in Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association’s 17th Annual Home Tour as well. Dubbed “Timeless Classic Design,” the tour showcases both new homes and historic homes that have been restored throughout the past century.
Tampa’s Historic Hyde Park home tour, which launched in 2003, is the neighborhood association’s primary fundraiser with the goal “to ensure there would be adequate funds to preserve the historic beauty of the area,” said tour chair Kate McGrath. Proceeds from the tour have been used to improve Hyde Park, install vintage street signs, restore the doors at the Old Hyde Park Art Center, and other projects.
Tickets cost $25 in advance, $30 day of the tour. For more information see historichydeparktampa.com.
December is another popular time of year for home tours. See a different part of Hyde Park at the Old Hyde Park Home Tour. Sponsored by Hyde Park Preservation Inc. (HPPI), the tour usually occurs the first Sunday in December.
The tour is organized by street, said Susan Heine, a spokesperson for HPPI. “People prefer to not have to walk too far. We get a lot of questions about how far they’re going to have to walk.” Tours are limited to five to eight homes to make the tour manageable.
The Old Hyde Park tour started as a kitchen tour, featuring renovated kitchens, some of which were 100 years old or more. “People got curious about the rest of the house,” Heine said, so gradually the tour expanded to the first floor. Visitors also explore the back yard and landscaping.
Funds raised during the tour go toward neighborhood maintenance. “We focus on historic preservation, rehabilitation and development,” Heine said. Projects have included original street lights, landscaping, and the neighborhood entrance monument.
Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of the tour. Watch oldhydeparkfl.org for information about the 2019 tour.
On the St. Petersburg side of the bridge, the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association (HONNA) holds its Candlelight Tour the second Sunday in December. Unlike other area home tours, this one lasts into the evening and has a holiday flavor. Homes are decorated, carolers circulate, and the sidewalks are lit with battery-operated candles. “People love to see homes and holiday decorations,” said Cathy Weisberg, chair of the 2018 tour. “It helps them get into the spirit of the season.”
Proceeds from the tour, now in its 22nd year, benefit numerous neighborhood projects and events throughout the year, Weisberg said. A portion of the proceeds is donated to a local nonprofit chosen by the tour committee. The Sunken Gardens Forever Foundation was the 2018 recipient.
Tickets are $25. Check honna.org for updates on the 2019 tour.
For those who can’t wait until December, the Historic Kenwood Neighborhood Association (HKNA) hosts BungalowFest the first Saturday in November.
The 20-year-old event has humble beginnings, said Nicole Carlisle, HKNA president. “Someone had the idea in the late ‘90s to do a mini-home tour for a conference that was in town,” she said. “It was very successful on a limited budget, and that success gave our board the confidence to move forward.”
The tour has grown into one of the biggest fundraisers for HKNA. “People are proud to show off their homes and our community to over 800 people each year,” Carlisle said. Proceeds pay for projects ranging from yard cleanups and housework for elderly or infirm neighbors to Kenwood Kidz, a monthly playdate program. “We buy and maintain our street signs and banners; we use the funds for our monthly meeting space and refreshments; we put out a monthly newsletter and have a website; and much more,” she said.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show. For more information see www.historickenwood.org.
You can’t set your calendar by Historic Roser Park’s Tour of Homes it occurs approximately every 18 months, alternating between spring and fall.
Historic Roser Park was St. Petersburg’s first neighborhood developed outside downtown. It was founded in 1910 by Charles Roser, a creator of the Fig Newton, whose goal was to develop one-of-a-kind homes along the rolling hills of Booker Creek. The 125-home area became St. Petersburg’s first historic district in the mid-1980s, and the tour was begun about 10 years later.
The tour is the primary fundraiser for the neighborhood association, with all proceeds used for neighborhood events, improvements and beautifications, said Kathy Posey, a Historic Roser Park Neighborhood Association board member.
The tour shows off a hidden part of St. Petersburg even locals may have never heard of, Posey said. “It is a completely unique experience in St. Petersburg to stand on the upper deck of a 100-year-old home and look out upon Booker Creek with its hills and steep banks. It’s rather surreal to see hilly streets of brick in St. Petersburg. The topography is what makes Historic Roser Park one of a kind.”
The next tour should happen in fall 2019, but the exact date hasn’t been determined, Posey said. Tickets are $20. Follow facebook.com/Historic-Roser-Park-Neighborhood-93354272753 to learn more.
Article by Caron Schwartz