Information

Annual Venice Garden and Home Tour 2010

Saturday May 1, 2010 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

This annual event is a self-guided walking tour of Venice homes and gardens. This year's tour will feature 25-30 gardens and homes in the historical heart of Venice, Oakwood and the Palms, Milwood neighborhoods just a short stroll from the bustling activity of Abbot Kinney Boulevard and the beach community. This fundraising event that benefits the Neighborhood Youth Association's Las Doradas Children's Center in Venice, is an annual showcase of creativity that inspires California's homeowners, the one day of the year when dozens of private enclaves are open to the public.

In this foray into old and new, fast-changing Venice, the walking tour will wander through quiet, palm-shaded streets, dappled with sunlight, and peek into homes open to the environment and where indoor-outdoor living is the norm. These are the "secret gardens" of Venice, private oases sequestered behind inviting gates and doors, where homeowners seek peace and beauty in their carefully tended gardens hidden away from hectic Los Angeles.

The Garden Tour inspires landscapers and homeowner gardeners who are intrigued by the use of salvaged materials used in interesting ways, by an abundance of art, by bold splashes of offbeat colors - eggplant, mustard, rust – that add spice to old stucco or creamy white wood, and where solar panels pop up amid rooftop grasses adjacent to elegant Craftsman bungalows. Tour-goers will feel the Venice vibe, the constant activity of homeowners nurturing their vegetable gardens, creating their pockets of privacy, a community where residents actually talk to each other, introduce their dogs, where bikers spin by, clutching surfboards, and artists, interior designers, photographers do their work in home studios.

Venice hums with its own unique energy generated by the blessing of being close to the Pacific and the home of so many creative people. The tour will visit Jay Griffith's office, where inspiration for today's sustainable landscaping was developed, and will also include iconic contemporary homes by Steven Ehrlich, Marmol Radziner, Callas Shortridge and Charles Ward, among others. Many of the adventurous, influential Los Angeles architects reside in Venice, where the genius of Charles and Ray Eames permeates the air, and where artists have settled and worked for decades. This Garden Tour showcases the creative individual spirit that continues to thrive in Venice.

Start Location:	Las Doradas Children's Center 804 Broadway, Venice, CA 90291 (corner of Broadway & Pleasantview, 1 block west of Lincoln Blvd) [DIRECTIONS]
When:	Saturday, May 1, 2010, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (rain or shine!)
Parking:	Free on-street parking is available. Free shuttle buses are also available along the route.
Tickets:	To purchase tickets, refer to our ticket information (tickets are non-refundable).
More Information:	Please refer to our contact information.

Annual Venice Architectural Tours 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

These exclusive tours are a companion to the ever-popular Venice Garden and Home Tour, and are offered to major Sponsors of the event.

All of these docent-led tours via private coach feature architecturally significant homes in the area, and include a continental breakfast and a catered luncheon.