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This Sunday the Boreum Hill Association will be hosting a house and garden tour, taking a look at restored brownstones, newer townhouses, and a live and work space transformed from a former warehouse (pictures of two featured homes above). Also this Sunday is the 40th Annual Prospect Lefferts Gardens House and Garden Tour, showcasing nine turn of the century residences. If you’re guilty of peeking into brownstone windows (only to enjoy the interior design, we swear) these are both great ways to spend a weekend afternoon.
The 2010 Boerum Hill House and Garden Tour [Boerum Hill Association]
40th Annual Prospect Lefferts Gardens House and Gardens Tour [Lefferts Manor Association]
Photos by Michael Moran and Francis Dzikowski/Esto


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  1. I agree about the weather.
    This was the first house tour I’ve taken in Brooklyn & enjoyed it very much. My favorite was one on State Street described as “Italianate” in the brochure. Resulting pangs of jealousy made me wonder if this was a good idea, or an exercise in self-torture.

    But some were definitely better than others.. . there was one home, about which I won’t go into detail, which my boyfriend and I agreed did not deserve to be part of the tour.

    As well as the gardens and the furniture and art, I like seeing the little things – how people organize their books, which kinds of coffee makers and alarm clocks they use, etc – though some people seemed to have readied their space as if for a decorating photoshoot, leaving no trace of human footprint!

    I hope to do it again next year.

  2. Despite the forecasts, the weather was pretty good for the house tours today. The PLG tour went very well and I hope the same can be said for the one in Boerum Hill. Comments about either, or both would be appreciated.

  3. Actually, *rob*, the effect is often just the opposite of what you postulate. It is quite inspiring to see the wonderful preservation, good craftsmanship, and inventive living solutions. Maybe you’ll never own a million/multi-million dollar home, but if you think that is all its about, you’re missing out. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone on one and spotted some small kitchen/bath detail or storage solution or furniture arrangement that I was able to immediately incorporate into my own rental apartment.

    Life’s way too short to spend any calories fretting about if you have enough or if someone else has more. Just be grateful and enjoy what you do have. What’s the old saying…happiness comes not from having everything you want, but wanting everything you have.

  4. I know, Rob, I always end up getting an inferiority complex after a house tour! But I also always get a lot of ideas for our someday renovation. Anybody about to embark on buying a house or a renovation of a house or apt should go on all the house tours they can fit in. It’s such a valuable resource.

    As for outsiders attending the PLG house tour, we get plenty from what I’ve seen. And I think it’s fantastic the tour is so well attended by locals. Shows the tight knit community PLG is known for. I go on the house tour because I know I’ll see friends and neighbors the whole way, whether they’re showing their house, or volunteering as a guide, or taking the tour themselves. We know a few people who want to buy in PLG and I tell them the house tour is the best way to get a feel for the place and who lives here. Those attending the tour should feel totally comfortable striking up conversation with residents and asking questions. Another place to do that on a regular basis is the wine tasting that’s nearly every week at 65 Fen (located at 65 Fenimore).

  5. i dont think i could go on these tours, dont they just wind up making you feel bad about yourself? like passing a bunch of super models? i couldnt do it. i would leave feeling super depressed and ghetto.

    apartment tours of the projects please! (tho id probably leave feeling the same way from those too)

    *rob*

  6. By Bob Marvin on May 21, 2010 3:38 PM

    If that were the case BH, I’d never have “discovered” PLG myself 🙂

    Bob, this will be my first PLG tourb(in the past I was either involved with the BH tour the same weekend or otherwise occupied)…so maybe I will discover something this weekend as well.

  7. Me too cobblehiller!

    Someone who’s REALLY dedicated COULD go on both tours. They’d start at our tour at noon (an hour before the BH tour starts)and get to Boereum Hill by 2:30 or 3:00. It MIGHT be a trifle tiring though 🙂

    In the ’70s (before BH’s 20+ year hiatus w/o a tour) our tours often fell on the same day and, on one or two years, we honored each other’s tickets. Of course that was easier to arrange when the old Brooklyn Brownstone Conference was (sort of) coordinating tours–it’d be harder to arrange now.

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