Think Green this Spring
Historic Druid Hills Home & Garden Tour
By Kit Eisterhold, Chair, Druid Hills Tour of Homes & Gardens
Spring is in the air, and the Druid Hills Tour of Homes & Gardens is right around the corner. This year, we are partnering with virtually every environmentally oriented nonprofit in Druid Hills — we are calling ourselves the “Canopy Coalition” — to put on a fantastic spring celebration.
The Olmsted Linear Park Alliance, South Fork Conservancy, Fernbank Forest, Trees Atlanta, The Georgia Native Plant Society and The Georgia Audubon Society are all taking part and will be hosting various events throughout the neighborhood to highlight the gorgeous natural gardens and greenspaces here in Druid Hills.
In keeping with the spring celebration, we are having a decidedly garden-themed tour this year. We are featuring homes like 1755 Ridgewood, a beautiful craftsman cottage with clinker brick and Tudor accents, set in a bucolic, one-acre wooded garden with a creek running through it, directly adjacent to Vickers Park and Peavine Creek. We also have a rare native plant garden down the street, at 1721 Dyson Drive.
Before you go to the next house on the tour, take some time to stroll through Fernbank Forest. The Fernbank Museum has agreed to open up Fernbank Forest to tour goers — and the forest is one of the last remaining stands of old growth forests in Atlanta, with 300-year old specimen hardwoods. You will also be able to access the award-winning rooftop garden at Springdale Park Elementary, located at 803 Briarcliff Road.
We have a trio of cozy homes along Harvard Road. Start with a quaint Tudor at 1360 Harvard, perched high on a hill overlooking the neighborhood with an inviting patio and pergola in the back. This setting makes you feel aloft in the canopy of hardwoods overhead. A recently renovated brick craftsman with covered front porch and rare jerkinhead dormer is just a few houses down the street, at 1378 Harvard, and don’t miss the gorgeous clinker brick Tudor with turret and crenelated porte-cochere, which neighbors affectionately refer to as the Castle House.
At 1491 Emory Road, we have the opportunity to glimpse a rare, five-acre wooded garden with a creek running through it, walking trails and a magnificent koi pond and waterfall. Just a short walk away, you will find the Peavine Trail, where you can take a guided tour with members of the South Fork Conservancy and the Friends of Peavine Trail. Bring your kids on Saturday, and enjoy an opportunity to learn about hummingbirds and plant flowers in the South Fork Conservancy’s Rain Garden, complete with music and lessons about native and pollinator friendly plants.
It’s going to be a great tour and a fabulous spring. We hope you will join us and admire these beautiful spaces in Historic Druid Hills. Visit druidhillstour.org.
