A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

By Kerrie Weaver

The California Heights Home and Garden Tour, held every two years, is an opportunity for our charming historic neighborhood to showcase our vintage homes and lovely gardens as well as raise vital funds for projects like Clean Streets, ReLeaf, lamppost restoration and the new mural on the corner of Bixby Road and Orange Avenue.

On Sunday, October 15, 2017, the California Heights Neighborhood Association proudly hosted its’ 16^th Home and Garden Tour. It was another wonderfully successful tour with over 500 guests and volunteers experiencing California Heights hospitality.

Once guests were checked in at Bixby Road and Lewis Avenue they could stop by and check out information from the Historical Society of Long Beach and Long Beach Heritage or purchase a Cal Heights t-shirt, tote or prints of the new mural while listening to music performed live by local resident Lee Hansen.

Guests walked, biked, or rode the trolley to the six beautiful homes featured on this year’s tour, each with its own lovely garden. Docents were on hand to greet guests and guide them through the homes providing them with information on the original features to the home as well as any sympathetic additions or remodels that were completed over the years.

A small but enthusiastic group of guests took a short break from the tour to attend the presentation by architectural photographer and author Alexander Vertikoff. Alexander Vertikoff is one of the leading photographers in the United States and his iconic images have graced every cover of “American Bungalow” magazine since its’ inception.

CHNA would like to send out a big thank you to everyone who helped to make this event such a great success! Thank you to our primary sponsor, local realtor Lewis Ebersole, the generous homeowners who opened their homes and gardens to hundreds of people and the docents and volunteers who donated a few hours of their time to help us put on this event. ρ

Our next Home Tour is scheduled for October of 2019. Email with questions: info@calheights.org