The Idyllwild Area Historical Society will host their 22nd Annual Home
Tour on Saturday, September 14^(th). The tour features five unique
private homes, varying in periods, style and setting, with features
created by local craftspeople, and works by local artists. Although
ticket sales at the museum and website will have closed this week,
tickets will be available on the day of the tour at the “will-call”
booth, which will be between the Idyllwild Monument and the Idyllwild
Inn. Last year, almost 1,000 visitors took the tour. Volunteer docents
help with facilitating parking and limiting the number of visitors in
each house at one time.

There will also be a reception all day for ticket holders at the Museum,
featuring refreshments and an exhibition of works by local artists. The
event is the Society’s major annual fundraiser. This year’s homes were
chosen by IAHS board member Nancy Killingsworth. They represent the
different periods of Idyllwild’s development and mix careful
preservation and restoration with modern imagination. There are homes
from the 1930s and 40s, and contemporary homes by local master
architects.

The older homes include a “petite bungalow” cabin refuge and a “rustic
lodge” that may have once served as a market, and now features a “great
room” worthy of a National Park grand lodge.

Local whimsy is on display at the “Joy Shed,” which is home to a model
train room, and tracks that wind around the living room and foyer. There
is a “Remote Hideaway” owned by master carpenter, and a 1990s gabled
house with “sky reaching” windows.

The homes are also furnished with the work of local craftsmen, from
Selden Belden and his Pine Craft furniture to Pete Holzman’s dramatic
work with exotic woods, and decorated with art collections, often
highlighting local artists.

This is a once-a-year chance to time travel and look inside these
wonderful and often historic spaces, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to
see these particular homes.

IAHS Home Tour, Saturday, September 14th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $30, tickets
available on the day of the tour at the “Will-Call” kiosk between
Idyllwild Inn (54300 Village Center Drive) and the Harmony Monument. Be
sure to wear comfortable shoes and be ready for stairs, all homes may
not be wheelchair accessible.