Update in March 2023: I noticed that the 2023 home and garden tour is scheduled for May 6, 2023. I highly recommend getting on the mailing list and blocking your calendar! I am still thinking, almost a year later, about how wonderful some of the houses featured were. One tip: skip the boxed lunch and make reservations elsewhere for lunch after the tour 🙂
Sophie and I had a fun mother-daughter day spending the morning touring five fantastic homes and gardens. It truly was California living at its best! I wanted to share some of the themes I saw across the five residences, in case you’ll be renovating soon.
The home tour was organized by the Lafayette Juniors, and it’s the first time I’ve attended. The tour consisted of five very different homes across Lafayette, CA. It was very well-organized, with great maps and a PDF full of resources and information on each of the houses. Sophie and I ordered the boxed lunches which were also quite good. There were multiple guides throughout the tours, and quite a bit of the houses were opened up to the public. There were tons of people at each house, but I must say I think Sophie was by far the youngest! She has a good eye for real estate and design- I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up in the industry at some point.
None of the themes below will be surprising to you, but I wanted to share what I saw across most of the houses. All five looked to have been renovated in the last couple of years. So these California living trends are hot off the presses!
Resort-like settings and amenities
I chalk this one up to the pandemic. As we have all read, people seriously invested in making their homes as comfortable and luxurious as possible. (Even The Two California Sisters are not immune to this trend- check out Kate’s posts on that!)
If people couldn’t go to the resort, the resort could come to them! You can see this in the very comfortable outdoor seating, the multiple seating areas, the pools with spas, the outdoor kitchens. I also noticed two separate cabanas, complete with second kitchens, poolside dressing rooms, and sectionals to watch TV. The perfect spot for teens!
For years, I remember real estate agents telling us that a pool would be a liability. “People don’t want pools!” I think the pandemic and these houses have proven them wrong.
Fire pits
All five of the houses had a fire pit or fire feature of some kind. I think it’s particularly nice here, where the weather is mild but frequently cool at night. It’s become very emblematic of California living.
Not much grass…and it’s usually artificial
Glad to see that we are leading the way on this 🙂 But there wasn’t much “real” grass in use. And when it was, it was artificial, with a couple of exceptions. Almost all our neighbors have artificial turf, it seems to be the way of California living (in a drought).
Stylish, durable outdoor furniture
Of course, there was a lot of outdoor furniture. And a lot of it looked like RH– neutral colors, modern styles, expensive. But it was great to see the use of some less expensive alternatives- like Serena and Lily (go to the outlet!) and Article. I loved the Article rocking chairs I saw and signed up to be notified when they are available. (Darned supply chain issues!)
The ultimate indoor-outdoor living
This theme is my favorite- the complete merging of indoor and outdoor living. Huge sliding doors that bring the inside out and the outside in. Beautiful vases of flowers, inside and out.
Grow your own veggies
This is definitely a trend, but I am not sure it’s one I am ready to sign up for. It’s a lot of work to take care of a garden! But I loved seeing the veggie gardens in full flower.
Make it your own with some custom features
Finally, to wrap up, these are very much custom houses and remodels. So the owners added their personal touches everywhere. Here are a few that I liked…
I will definitely be back next year- it was a lot of fun. Consider checking out home and garden tours in your neck of the woods!
