Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404210156
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KAREN L. DAVIS Special to the Roanoke Times & World-News
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The sponsoring organizations, the Roanoke Valley Garden Club and Mill Mountain Garden Club, have no formal criteria for selecting homes, Rice said. "We decide on the area first. Then we rely mostly on word-of-mouth suggestions. We try to pick houses we think people would like to visit, because many people come on the tour to get decorating ideas," she said.
However, having a lavishly decorated home with lots of antiques and art is not a criterion for selection, she emphasized.
"We try to get a mix, for example, of modern and Colonial styles, large and small homes," said Louise Forsyth, a tour chairwoman this year.
The clubs usually select five homes for the tour, because "that's a good number for people to visit in one day," Rice said. Then the chairwoman or a representative calls the owners and invites them to participate.
Most home owners who've participated said they were flattered when asked.
"We're doing it because the money goes to a good cause, and that's important to us," said Sarah Belle Parrott, whose home at 3112 Somerset St. is on this year's tour.
The Roanoke Tour of Homes and Gardens is part of the statewide 61st annual Historic Garden Week in Virginia. Proceeds go to The Garden Club of Virginia, headquartered in Richmond, for restoring historic sites throughout the state.
Since 1929, garden clubs in Virginia have raised more than $5 million for these restorations. Last year more than $400,000 was collected for various projects, including landscaping at Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's country retreat in Bedford County. The Roanoke tour contributed about $7,000.
Other nearby projects have included Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg and Point of Honor in Lynchburg. Past projects have included the Memorial Garden and terrace at Lee Chapel in Lexington and the gardens at Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Next year's tour will be in South Roanoke, where it has been centered for several years. The reason, Rice said, is convenience to the Roanoke Council of Garden Clubs' headquarters at 2713 Avenham Ave. S.W.
"We were lucky this year to get all of the houses so close together," Forsyth said. "That makes it convenient for those who ride the shuttle bus" from the headquarters.
A few homes are so close together that visitors can walk from one to the next. More parking is available around the garden center, too. "Visitors can leave their cars in one place and not worry about having to move it for the rest of the day."
In past years, the Roanoke tour has highlighted homes in other areas, including Old Southwest in 1979, Blacksburg in 1981, Hunting Hills in 1982, Ridgeway in Roanoke County in 1985, Hunting Hills in 1989 and Fincastle in 1990.
The years in between have focused mostly on South Roanoke but also have featured homes from Lakewood Colony and Mill Mountain, Forsyth said.
Selections for 1995 likely will be complete by the end of summer, but announcements will not be made until September, "when we have to turn the information in to Richmond for the guidebook," Rice said.
Each year, participating homes and gardens throughout the state are listed in a Historic Garden Week in Virginia guidebook. In 1995, on the 75th anniversary of the founding of The Garden Club of Virginia, Historic Garden Week in Virginia is set for April 22-30.
by CNB