Annual Venice Garden and Home Tour 2009

Saturday May 2, 2009 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 that glittering gem in the dazzling Los Angeles landscape, the Venice Canals. At the beginning of the 20th century, when anything seemed possible, Abbot Kinney's vision and entrepreneurial enthusiasm captured the public's imagination. Opened on July 4, 1905, Kinney's Venice of America included an amusement pier, Italianate colonnades and canals with costumed gondoliers.

What remains today of the original canal development is a uniquely inviting residential area, sheltered from car traffic, where old Venice beach cottages survive next to sleek contemporary cubes overlooking gleaming ribbons of water. Homes designed by Glen Irani Architects, Steven Shortridge/Callas Shortridge, Steven Erhlich, Antoine Predock, and Frank Gehry (Lifeguard House) will be on view, as well as restored older cottages with secluded indoor-outdoor living spaces and pocket gardens. This is a neighborhood where homeowners take pride in their small pieces of paradise, the ducks have right-of-way, and the ocean breezes waft softly over the sunny, tranquil landscape.

Tour-goers will also visit the Venice beach "Walk Streets," a short distance from the canals, and will see the Venice Beach House, now a nostalgic bed and breakfast, a photographer's studio, a stunning ocean front home by Lenny Steinberg Design Associates and gardens filled with art and a profusion of plants all within sight of the ocean. The tour will continue into the adjacent Windward Circle neighborhood of broad, open streets (formerly canals) with craftsman homes and newer designs by Callas Shortridge Architects and landscape designer Bent Grass.

There will be approximately 25-30 gardens and homes on the Garden Tour - some with lush landscaping, others with spare, drought tolerant plantings and all reflective of the creative talents of Venice's homeowners and local designers, including Jay Griffith, to create an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.

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 2, 2009, 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.

Tour Tips

You are advised to begin the tour before 2:00 PM in order to see all of the homes and gardens.

Bike riding is strongly encouraged! You are responsible for your own bike - bring a lock! You can rent bikes in Venice from these businesses:

Venice Bike & Skate [map]
21 Washington Blvd, Venice (at Speedway),  (310) 301-4011

Bike Attack [map]
1501 Main Street, Venice (north of Windward Circle),  (310) 399-8783

No dogs or strollers are allowed in the gardens.

Wear comfortable shoes, hats and sunscreen.

Photography is allowed.

Annual Venice Architectural Tours 2009

Saturday, April 25, 2009

These tours have already occurred.

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.