Tour of Homes

Nine years ago Ken and Sven (Hubby and business partner) designed a village style neighborhood and built it in a development that consisted mostly of large estate type homes. The concept was well received and the village, with 82 homes, was built out in 3 years. They built all of the homes. The style is 1910-40 old Atlanta and many details were carried out inside. Almost every home has a back alley that serves as the "service" street..mail, trash, garage. Every year this residential development hosts a Christmas Tour of Homes to benefit a children's shelter. This year they decided not to have a tour because of the economy and difficulty finding people to put their homes on tour. The "village people", as they call themselves, decided that they'd host it and have a walking tour and a Norman Rockwell theme...carollers, Santa, etc. It was very successful and raised over $70,000 dollars for the shelter. Many people commented on the homey neighborhood feel. The homes being far smaller and grand seemed to be a plus rather than a negative. Even though this is still a very "quality" neighborhood it is quite scaled down compared to the mega mansions that were usually on tour. I'm talking 22 televisions, urinals in the garage, basketball courts, etc. I guess Americans are getting real! I always agree to coordinate the volunteers in one home on tour. This year I wasn't going to, but somehow my arm got twisted (really just because Ken and Sven built it). Pictures inside the homes aren't allowed by guest, but the home owner wanted me to take pictures, as she forgot to do so before the tour started. She gave me permission to share these. The first part of the video is of many of the homes. You'll see a group pix of the volunteers that helped me on one shift. The rest of the pictures are of the home I coordinated in. I hope you enjoy seeing these. Some of you know the people that live in the second and third house shown! The first house shown was on the tour. It was the first house built in the village and the bonus room above the garage served as Ken and Sven's office. The garage itself was the room for customers to meet and sign contracts, etc., therefore it was heated and air conditioned. The person that owns it has a heated/AC garage!