October 14, 2005
Inside, Outside, All Sides Now
Soon, we'll be on the other side of Halloween. Once the rubber skeletons and fiberglass spiderwebs come down, the sparkle lights and pine sprigs go up. If you live in a Victorian mansion, chances are your Xmas decorating scheme is much more elaborate; which is why All Saint's Day marks the start of house and parlor tour season. I haven't actually gone on any house tours in St. Louis yet, though I almost made a valiant effort to make it to the Soulard Holiday Parlor Tour one year.
Part of the reason I haven't been more enthusiastic about going on house tours is that I'm afraid I'll end up with musculoskeletal injuries from the physical stress of being around so many expensive, breakable things. Being near-sighted and clumsy, I always imagine I'lll accidentally stick my elbow through someone's china cabinet window or trip on a rug and take down a whole dining-room table, with many pretty, breakable things on its surface. This is why I feel more comfortable around people who collect rocks, vs. rare china patterns.
Here's my kind of house tour, though, and it's tomorrow: Heartland Renewable Energy Society is throwing a "2005 Sustainable Homes Tour." It's just one house, but it's quite a house: it's solar, with cellulose insulation, landscaped with native wildflowers, trees and grasses. Inside, they've used nontoxic paints, carpets made from recycled soda bottles and bamboo floors. It also has a bat house in the yard, which is my favorite touch. The addy is 744 Ballwin Road, and the house is open from 10am-4pm tomorrow (it's free, too, even better).
Closer to home but no less important is the Market Street 2005 Charrette on October 21-23, sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. A Charrette is "a collaborative planning process that combines design professionals with interested citizens." You do have to register, but the form is online and it's only ten bucks. A small price to pay to have some input into one of downtown's major stretches of road, yes?