The Final Home Tour House...The Francoeur/Lynch Home

The final stop on this year's Home Tour is the Craftsman style home that was built in the early 1920's. The current owners are lovingly restoring it. These old homes have such charm and deserve the facelift and the bit of public attention they receive once a year when they are recognized and honored by the Mesa  Historical  Society and their Home Tour. I highly recommend the tour to any of you who missed it this year. The tour included 9 historical homes and 4 other historical buildings.  Let's take a look at this last home: It was originally a little over 800 sq. ft, but the current owners have added on to this little house. It is a very fresh feeling addition.

You enter the original part of the house which contains the living room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a small kitchen.The expansion includes a dining area, a storage area and a 3rd bedroom. It blended so well that I couldn't really tell where one ended and the other began.

The Living Room

The Master Bedroom

The other original bedroom

In the kitchen

This looked like the perfect place to curl up with a cozy blanket and a good book, and if a nap happened to sneak in then that would be o.k., too.

The homeowner, who graciously opened her home to the public this year. Thank you.

More Home Tour...Welcome Back!

This is another home that I really enjoyed. An interesting little tidbit about the occupants of this house: They have 12 children. I saw a photo of the children on the wall and without having met the owner thought that they were grandkids. I was informed that the boys sleep out back in the bunkhouse and the girls upstairs. I loved the house. It did not have a lot of clutter. With 12 children, you can't afford to have a lot of clutter. So here we go:

The Kitchen:

Let's go outside. They use their backyard for receptions. 

Here is the bunkhouse. Wouldn't you love this if you had a bunch of brothers? :-)

I also loved this big bookcase at the base of stairs. With it's central location, I got the feeling that books and learning was important in this home.

The Family Room/Dining Room:

These homeowners kept it simple, but cozy. I could live here.

I'll share one more tomorrow and then you'll just have to come next year to see them all. :-)

Historical Home Tour Photos...Finally!

Several weeks ago I posted about Mesa Historical Museum's Annual Home Tour. It took place on January 24th, which seems like eons ago. I am finally getting around to posting photos from the tour. I love this kind of thing. It's fun to be involved with a community event. People were talkative and friendly. I especially enjoyed meeting the home owners and chatting with them. The lunch at the restaurant that took over Rigattoni's was good...same menu as last year: Tour of Rigattoni's. I'm going to begin with a house that was fun to photograph. It was truly a reflection of the homeowner's love for their home.

You will now be entering the home belonging to this cute couple. I admit that I went a little overboard on this one. There was just so much to see! The home had little nooks and crannies...and longer than expected hallways.

A view from the kitchen into the living room.

This is the hallway leading to the family room.

This little phone chair in their family room was found at a second hand store

and according to the Mrs., it was love at first sight. She just HAD to have it.

Into the kitchen, which had a little nook off of it with candy jars filled with yummy treats. This room was dubbed "The Preparation Room" by a little visitor and the name stuck. This is a grandma's kitchen that any kid would love.

And last, but not least, the bathroom.

Stay tuned for more Home Tour tomorrow.

Mesa Historical Museum Annual Home Tour 2009

Mesa has cozy little events that promote it's history or just make you feel connected to the community. Mesa Historical Museum's Annual Home Tour is one of the things that I enjoy every year. It's coming up this Saturday, the 24th. If you haven't gone before, it's a lot of fun. They've asked me to photograph the homes for their brochure. I'll be their on Evergreen St. capturing the day and  post some of the fun afterwards. Don't you ever wonder what some of those cute little historic homes look like on the inside? Stop wondering and come on down and find out for yourself. You know me and food...well, the lunch at RigaTony's was always de-lish. 

Mark your calendar for this year's historic home tour: 

Saturday, January 24, 2009 -- 10:00am to 4:00pm

This year's tour will feature some beautiful historic homes in the 

Evergreen Historic District of Mesa.

Tickets will be $25, and include admission to the historic homes, the Mesa Historical Museum, and a complimentary lunch at 

Maredeneley's Italiam Bistro (formerly RigaTonys)

Here are just some of the homes that will be on the tour:

Hope to see you there!