Tour of Homes

Well, this past weekend was the annual Virginia Highlands Tour of Homes.  It was my first time going, and looks like I'll be back every year to come.  Hubs came along with me, and of course it was something he had never done in the city either.  (Before I'm hammered with comments regarding dragging my poor husband to a home show, let me clear this up.  I originally purchased tickets with a good friend of mine who had an emergency pop up last minute, so hubs stepped in to keep me company on the tour.  Now that it's settled I'm not the worst wife in the world, I'll continue on my home tour rant.)  There were 8 houses for the viewing this year, and 8 local restaurants showcasing their foods at each home on the tour. We realized a few things about the homes selected this year.  Professional decorating, curb appeal, wine cellars, and outdoor kitchens.  Seriously, you apparently cannot live in Va-Hi (you definitely can't be on the tour) without both a Weber grill and a Green Egg, along with your choice of 300 plus bottles of vino.  Oh, to dream....

So, here we go, each house on the tour, plus a few of my favorite details from each:

House #1

The interior designer on this house also happened to be the homeowner.  She has a very clear style of mixing antique pieces with modern playful fabrics and pops of color.  This was my favorite house on the whole tour.

Love the fabrics on her dining chairs.  How fun and unexpected while the rest of the room is nodding to the original antique character of the house.

I had to get a shot of the kitchen ceiling.  It was a lofted ceiling with track lights and up lighting, and the homeowner had painted it blue.  This picture ala my iPhone clearly does not do it justice. 

 A fun little reading room/ library in grays and oranges.  I never knew orange could look so good!

And, alas, my absolute favorite spot in the house.  This little corner of the master bedroom.  First of all, I love that the homeowner was not afraid of COLOR.  I think it's so boring to only use neutrals in a house, come on, live a little! Well, living is definitely happening in this room.  Full of life!  And, I love this over sized mirror paired with the white vanity.  Gorgeous.

House #2

House #2, or "that contemporary one" as we kept referring to it, definitely stood out amongst the other homes.  I felt like I was walking through a house of the future, or something straight from the Jetsons. I didn't take too many pictures here because this really isn't my style, but I can appreciate it in any event.

For example, look at these counter tops.  Can you even believe this coloring?  If you can't, then you definitely won't believe that this rock has not been dyed blue.  It comes straight from Brazil this way.  Wow. 

And the lighting in this house was unreal.  I don't even know where you find fixtures like this.  I'm sad this picture didn't turn out so well, but it looked like a huge set of gears.

Another funky light leading upstairs.  Reminds me of a skeleton or something.  Again, I don't think you can find this at Lowe's.

And keeping with the theme of these Va-Hi homes, an outdoor kitchen.  Granite counter tops, built in grill, fire pit, lounge area, large work station.  Hubba hubba.

The best part of this home to me was definitely the city skyline view from the rooftop deck.  It was unbelievable!

We really weren't cool enough to be in this house.  Super swanky and hip, totally city, and so we quickly scurried our suburban butts off to House #3.

House #3

Another good lookin' casa.  Magazine quality.  No really, it was.  Southern Living featured the kitchen in this home in its April 2011 edition.  And after seeing the kitchen for myself, I know why. 

The home opened up into a shared dining room and living room area.  It was covered in pattern and texture, and I ate that up big time.  Look how cool the wall stenciling in here is:

And more stenciling on the fireplace:

And that brings us to the Southern Living kitchen.  Que the trumpets firing and the angels singing, Hallelujah!  If you know me, I really have a blue fetish.  It's bad.  I absolutely cannot get enough of the color.  Soothing and wonderful, I love you blue.  Look at all this blue cabinetry, this makes me happy:

And the floors! How have I never thought of painting hardwoods in a room? Look how great they look.  These were painted in a diamond design in a creamy white and gray pattern.  Wonderful. 

Another view, ohhh ahhhhh....

And the bathroom.  Floor to ceiling in some sort of tumbled marble tiles.  Dark cabinetry.  Tons of cool lighting.  And the paint color? CHARCOAL! Who would have thought a color as dark as charcoal could look so great in a bathroom?  It reminds me of a cave, in a good way.  So spa-like.

House #4

This house, also known as "Casa Pete" was a total dojo mancave of a structure.

The ceilings were pretty amazing:

The backyard included a firepit lounge area, outdoor kitchen, and sitting pool:

And the wine cellar:

And the wine tasting room just outside the wine cellar (and everyone on the tour looking into the cellar door):

And a table made of a solid piece of wood.  I think this bad boy could seat 12 or so comfortably.

House #5
Another charmer... of all the homes, I think this one stayed truest to the original architecture.

The mostly neutral living room had a very casual but done look.  And I would love a leather sleigh style chaise lounge like this one:

 The dining room had an awesome chandelier, and I loved the grouping of prints over the sideboard table:

The kitchen was so crowded I really couldn't get any great pictures, but this I thought was a cute little whimsical touch.  The plates display the 7 deadly sins written in a cursive font.  The walls were a silvery gray, and the ceiling was beadboard.

The guest room.  Usually, I'm not as drawn to the modern look of geometrics, but this room I thought was so fun.  And the tufted headboard had a really neat pattern:

The sitting area of the master bedroom suite.  Yes, I'll be recreating you one day in my own master suite....

House #6

The best part of this home I think was the backyard landscaping... You'll see.

I snapped this pic because I LOVE that the window trim is painted black. It just makes the eye follow a line all the way to the outdoors (which were fabulous here).

 The master bedroom (a little nod to coastal living, gotta love that!)

And a Sarah Richardson-esque bathroom.  Tons of different stones and finishes here, but all done in shades of gray and white.

 And, the outdoors... hello lover.

House #7

This was hubs' favorite (my second favorite).  It was probably the biggest home on the tour as well.  I'm not sure if it was new construction, or just completely remodeled.  But, I could still smell the fresh paint and sawdust remnants... mmmm.... This house also had a movie theatre room.  Yep.

 The front room was what I call wood paneling done right.  Wow.  I wish I knew the paint color here.

And the living room and kitchen were one big open space of awesome.  Oh, that ceiling was to die for.  Beyond those doors was a large porch looking out over an even larger lawn.

 Total closet envy.

Bathroom envy, too...

A mancave...

 Another wine cellar....

 And another outdoor kitchen.. with a view...

And that brings us to the final home.

House #8

 More bathroom envy...

 Outdoor porch with hardwood ceilings and stone fireplace. 

 The family room and kitchen:

And that completes the tour, and the longest blog post in history.  Hope you enjoyed, and maybe even got some great ideas for your own home.  I know I did!