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A variety of architecture opens doors on home tours
Saturday, September 18, 1999 Kevin Kirkland, Homes editor
The North Side's Mexican War section is famous for its grand homes with leaded glass, hardwood paneling and the extravagant details of the Victorian age. On Sept. 26, 14 homes and gardens ranging in age from 100 to 150 years old will be featured on the 30th annual Mexican War Streets House & Garden Tour.
Among the houses featured will be one belonging to Ferris wheel inventor George Ferris, a Greek Revival, a couple Romanesque Revivals, an Italianate and several Second Empires. There's also a garden spanning three city lots and including a waterfall, two ponds and lots of flowers.
The self-guided walking tour runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advance tickets are $12. Tickets on the day of the tour are $15 and are available at the corner of West North Avenue and Palo Alto Street. Tickets for a gala reception at 7:30 p.m. Friday at D&GG Advertising Art Studio are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. For information or advance tickets for the tour or reception, call 412-323-9030.
The Mars Area Public Library's House Tour will continue today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Five homes , a remodeled church and a perennial garden will be open to the public. Tickets are $10 and are available at the library, 107 Grand Ave., and area businesses. Information: 724-625-9048.
A 19th-century farmhouse, a grand 1880 Victorian and an artist's creekside "cabin" are the stars of the Freeport College Club House & Garden Tour on Sunday. The tour, which benefits a scholarship fund and the Freeport Area Library, will run from 1 to 6 p.m. Refreshments will be served at Sower's Chapel in Sarver, where shuttle service will be provided to the artist's cabin.
Tickets are $8 in advance and are available at area businesses or the library. Tickets are $10 on the day of the tour and will be on sale at Freeport Junior High School, Fourth Street. For information, call 724-295-2464.
Nearly every decade of the 20th century is represented by the six homes on the annual house tour sponsored by the Friends of the Grove City Community Library. From 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 26, you can walk through a 1901 Victorian bed and breakfast, a 1910 13-room mansion, a 1927 urban restoration, a 1939 colonial, a 1970s wood and stone modern home and a 1995 ranch.
Tickets, $6, will be available in advance and on the day of the tour at the library, 125 W. Main St., where refreshments will also be served during the tour. Information: 724-458-7320.
If the kitchen is where you feel most at home, A Tasting Tour in Westmoreland County has eight for you to visit. The tour -- from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 2 -- is a fund-raiser for the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg. Among the highlights are cooks' abodes with hints of Tuscany, a Victorian garden, brewpub and the Jetsons. OK, the last one's not quite space age but it does have every modern convenience, including a video phone. Each stop will also offer visitors tastes of food prepared from recipes in the museum's cookbook.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 the day of the tour. A $7 box lunch is also available by advance registration. Tickets are available at local businesses and the museum. For information, call 724-837-1500 ext. 39.
Lovers of really old houses -- colonials where real colonists lived -- will want to head to Washington County for the Peters Creek Historical Society's house tour on Oct. 3. From 1 to 5 p.m., visitors can tour six homes dating from the mid 18th century up to the early 20th century.
Among the stops is a 1760s log building that was dismantled, moved from Westmoreland County and reassembled in Peters. There's also a 1790s stone Georgian, the 1815 Wright House -- now a museum and the historical society headquarters -- two mid-1800s farmhouses and an 1890s Queen Anne with Colonial Revival touches.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 on the day of the tour, and are available at area businesses or from the Peters Creek Historical Society, Box 208, Venetia, PA 15367. For more information, call 724-348-4224
A redecorated Washington County home with a lovely pool and garden will be among those featured on the fall house and garden tour by Symphony South on Oct. 6. The tour, set to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., will include five single-family homes, a townhouse and a model home in Washington, North and South Strabane and Peters. Tickets, $15, are available at area businesses and Citizens Library in Washington. Proceeds benefit musical experiences for children and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Information: 724-225-4688.
Five South Hills homes, including a Mt. Lebanon Tudor, Bethel Park ranch and three newer homes in Upper St. Clair and Peters, are on the Wesley Tour of Homes on Oct. 10. The tour from noon to 5 p.m. benefits The Wesley Institute, which provides services to special-needs children and families. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the tour. They're available at area businesses or can be reserved by calling Wesley at 412-831-9390.
See the city's Brighton Heights and Davisville neighborhoods from the windows of a trolley. From 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 10, members of the Brighton Heights Citizens Federation Historical Committee will point out and discuss homes, churches and landmarks on Termon and McClure avenues, Brighton Road and Kleber Street. Tours begin at St. Cyril of Alexandria Church's parking lot. There will also be refreshments and a historical photo exhibit. Tickets are $10. For reservations, call 412-766-3166.
"Downtown Living: A Showcase of City Lifestyles" will offer visitors a tour of apartments and condominiums in The Pennsylvanian, Washington's Landings and Lincoln at North Shore on Oct. 31. At 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Molly's Trolleys will take groups to each of the tour stops, ending with a light lunch at The Pennsylvanian. Tickets, $20, are available by advance registration only by calling 412-255-0121. Checks with preferred time of tour and names of the participants can be sent to: Downtown Neighborhood Association, Box 2345, Pittsburgh, PA 15230-2345.
Last but not least, your own house could be featured on a tour.
The Junior League of Pittsburgh is looking for a house to decorate for the Designers' Show House, its 2000 fund-raiser. The women's service organization is looking for a 12- to 18-room that can be made over by area interior designers.
Tour organizers favor houses with an interesting history, eye-catching architecture, solid structure and accessible parking. Send information on your house to: The Junior League of Pittsburgh, Att: Show House Committee, 244 N. Bellefield Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
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