Satisfy curiosity at Batavia House Walk Saturday
Have you ever, on a post-dinner stroll, wondered where the neighbors got the idea for their window treatments? Or admired a cutely painted bungalow and asked yourself if the inside was as nice?
Saturday in Batavia it's perfectly acceptable to invite yourself in and find out, at least to five houses on the second annual Batavia House Walk sponsored by Batavia MainStreet.
"A Walk on the Avenue" features two homes along Batavia Avenue (also known as Route 31) and three more within a block of it. The walk is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 6, and includes a tea at the Batavia Depot Museum, Houston and Water streets.
MainStreet launched the event last year, hoping to showcase downtown living, its director, Britta McKenna, said.
Construction on the Wilson Street bridge prevented that, but the walk was a successful fundraiser anyway, leading MainStreet to organize a second event this year with homes that aren't strictly in the downtown.
"We may yet do a downtown walk - there are interesting lofts, condos, historic homes - now that we have a bridge that is fully operational," McKenna said.
Jan Gibson, a Batavia resident who owns Gibby's, is coordinating decorations for the houses, outfitting them with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve and a patio party themes.
Featured houses include an English cottage, Tudor, Italianate, cottage in the woods and a contemporary.
Tickets are $25 through Friday, and $30 the day of the event. They can be purchased online at www.downtownbatavia.com by clicking on the "House Walk" logo, or at Bee-Attitudes Antiques, 9 S. Batavia Ave.; Sue's Family Hair Co., 139 S. Batavia Ave.; K. Hollis Jewelers, 147 S. Randall Road; and Gibby's Wine Den, 1772 S. Randall Road in Geneva. You can also buy them at the MainStreet office, 2 E. Wilson St.
The day of the event, purchase them from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the drive-through registration on Water between Wilson and Houston.
More information about the Batavia House Walk is available at www.bataviahousewalk.com.