Visiting spectacular homes, shopping at over 17 boutiques and enjoying a gourmet lunch with friends were on the agenda at the Harding Land Trust’s (HLT) seventh biennial House and Garden Tour, “Lovely Places for Open Spaces.”
A Preview Party the night before the tour at a lovely home kicked off the event. The Preview Party was an opportunity for guests to view “Leaf Trees,” a stunning home with elements of tradition, and a blend of contemporary colors and patterns, that make for original and elegant living spaces. Nik Bjorkedal, President of HLT, thanked the generous sponsors, particularly second time corporate lead sponsor Dentons US LLP, as well as Signature Home Builders, Michael P. Maher Design, Professional Audio Consultants, Celebrity Motor Car, and Cambridge Wines. Sponsors were on hand at the party to speak with guests, to offer test drives of a luxury Maserati or BMW, to provide a demonstration of the home movie theater and to share a wine tasting. Bjorkedal also expressed HLT’s appreciation to the homeowners who opened their homes for the community, as well as to the Land Trust’s members and supporters.
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Tour guests began their day in Harding at Church of Christ the King on Monday, June 5, 2017. Approximately 350 local residents and 75 docents came out to celebrate land preservation in Harding with a four-house tour, which included such properties as “Battlefield,” “Longacre,” “Ravenswood,” and “Griffin Lane Farmhouse.”
Before the tour, the guests could shop at the boutiques which offered a colorful array of merchandise including luxury handmade hats, personalized American made leather goods, handcrafted crocheted precious gemstone jewelry, premium stylish men’s socks and much, much more. GARDEN COTTAGE decorated the lunch tent with beautiful furniture, lanterns, and topiaries, which made the delicious boxed lunches even more enjoyable.
For the house tour portion of the event, guests were treated to an opportunity to visit some of Harding’s most magnificent homes. First on the tour was “Battlefield,” completed in 2011, which is a stately colonial home. The home sits on an 11 acre property and features extensive patios surrounded by seasonal native flower gardens, a tennis court, hay field, beehives and a vegetable garden, meticulously maintained by TILL GARDENS.
The second home on the tour was “Longacre.” Recently renovated, the kitchen and family rooms have been updated incorporating more modern elements within this classic colonial. At this extraordinary home and garden, beautiful and surprising elements blend with the rare, making this property come alive.
“Ravenswood,” which was built in 2010 and sits high on a hilltop, is an elegant Bucks County stone farmhouse with rolling views of pastoral fields and a pond. The homeowners have turned this custom-built house into a family and dog friendly home of subtle European elegance with the help of FRANK DELLEDONNE and landscaper SLEVIN GROUP.
The fourth property on the tour was “Griffin Lane Farmhouse.” Located in a bucolic setting, this beautiful colonial revival farmhouse was completed in 2015 with interior design by VALERIE MATTHEWS. In addition to the house, there was a charming barn included on the tour, the home of two donkeys and chickens.
A complete list of sponsors for the entire event is available on the “Partners” section of HLT’s website. The program book, distributed to all house tour guests, also lists the event sponsors and advertisers, and is a great resource for finding local services. Please take the time to peruse this book and consider supporting our generous advertisers!
“The trustees and staff of Harding Land Trust are grateful to all who helped to make this day a wonderful and memorable event,” said Anne Flugstad-Clarke, Event Chair. “Such great teamwork and support from the community to enable the work that we do; to protect our open space, clean water and clean air in Harding, makes events like this possible. A heartfelt thank you to everyone—our homeowners, generous sponsors, docents, guests and supporters!”
