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By Christy Simo
Experience 164 years of architectural history in just a few hours with this year’s 40th Annual Grant Park Tour of Homes Saturday and Sunday, May 17–18.
This year’s tour will take visitors on “A Stroll Through Time.” See one of the oldest homes in Atlanta, built in 1850, wander through a 1926 Craftsman Bungalow with a new addition, or take a peek at a new-build 2001 Queen Anne Victorian home, with a little bit of everything in between.
“We have always admired the area and have participated in each tour of homes, even before we lived here,” said Amy Revelas, one of the homeowners featured on this year’s tour. “As soon as we became empty nesters, we moved in-town to enjoy this wonderful neighborhood. We are so thrilled to go from admiring homes on the tour to showing off our own!”
One c. 1900 house on the tour is currently undergoing rehabilitation, and the owner/contractor will be on hand to answer questions. Restoration demonstrations on everything from plaster to restoring windows will also be taking place at the home throughout the day. Another house on the tour, a 1960 ranch house – a rare find in Grant Park – was recently used as a filming location for the upcoming movie “Kill the Messenger” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jeremy Renner and Andy Garcia.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about your historic house, be sure to stop by the home history workshop on Saturday, which is free with the purchase of a Tour of Homes ticket. The workshop will be held in a newly restored 1905 storefront and given by Sue VerHoef, a senior archivist with the Atlanta History Center.
Maybe you’ve been wanting to get started on a home renovation project, but don’t know where to begin? As part of the tour on Sunday, come to the renovation financing seminar, hosted by Cathy McDaniel with Synovus Mortgage Corp. and sponsored by Nest Atlanta/exp Realty.
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, stop by the GPNA booth at the Grant Park Farmers Market on Sundays, or go towww.gpna.org/tourofhomes. Tickets for this year’s Tour of Homes are $20 in advance, $25 day of the event. Children under 18 are $10; children 3 and under are free. Discounted tickets to the Cyclorama will also be available (for Saturday, May 17, only).
Proceeds for the event will go toward the Grant Park Neighborhood Association to fund community projects and initiatives such as transportation improvements and grants for neighborhood schools. This year, one dollar of every ticket will also go to the Atlanta Preservation Center, which has its headquarters in Grant Park, for their advocacy of the Memorial Drive corridor. The corridor was named as one of its Most Endangered Places in Atlanta in 2013. To learn more about their efforts, visit www.atlantapreservationcenter.com/Memorial_Corridor.
