Irvington Home Tour Tickets On Sale Now

Irvington is such a delightful walking neighborhood. I just love strolling through the neighborhood, checking out all the cool houses and gardens. Whenever I walk to the library, or to a restaurant or store, or just walk, I try to always take a different route, so I can see different places. What's really great is when people have their drapes open, so you can peek in and and get a glimpse of their built-ins or decor -- or when I'm really lucky a cat sitting in the window. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a voyeur or stalker or anything. I just like getting decorating ideas from other people. Not that I ever actually implement them; I just like getting them.

Once of the best opportunities for doing just that is at the annual Irvington Home Tour, which takes place this year on Sunday, May 16th, from 11 am to 5 pm. On this glorious Sunday each year, you get to not only peek at houses and gardens from a distance but actually tromp around inside, and learn the specifics about how various Irvingtonites have chosen to remodel their homes. Such an opportunity!

You can get tickets to this marvelous event at Broadway Books -- we just got our allotment today! An extra bonus to this year's tour will be the lecture by Mary Piper, neighborhood historian and chairperson of the Irvington Historic Preservation Committee, about the name behind the neighborhood: Elizabeth Dixon Irving, born in Indiana in 1833, was largely reponsible for the development of the Irving household in East Portland into what we know as Irvington, following the death of her husband, Captain Irving. The lecture will be offered at 1 pm and 3 pm at a location to be announced in the tour brochure. The lecture is free to anyone with a home tour ticket, but seating is very limited and will be on a first-come-first-served basis. Tour tickets are $20 each, payable by cash or check when you buy them here.