Hudson Garden Club brings back popular home tour

by Judy Stringer

Four Hudson homes and three gardens will be open for viewing during the 72nd annual Hudson Home & Garden Tour on Thursday, June 13, and Friday, June 14. Tours start at 10 a.m. both days, but Thursday includes evening hours until 8 p.m. Friday’s tours end at 5 p.m. Admission tickets are required.

Co-chair Carla Maurer said this year’s tour includes several newly renovated homes, including a century home, and two shade gardens, along with a more extensive backyard retreat.

The Hudson Garden Club will also host a garden shop at Hudson Middle School, 77 N. Oviatt St., which does not require an admission ticket. Hours for the garden shop are the same as tour hours.

“Guests are welcome to stop in the garden shop in the afternoon for complimentary tea and cookies,” according to Maurer. She said between 1,200 and 1,400 individuals attend the tour each year.

For the second year in a row, guests will have the option of lunching at the historic Lake Forest County Club, served both days of the tour from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The $20 lunch ticket includes several entrée choices, including vegetarian, and there is a cash bar. Tickets are sold online at hudsongardenclub.com until Wednesday, June 5. Tickets will be sold at the door, if available.

Plein air (outdoor) artists will be around town, as they always are for this event, creating real-time paintings of featured homes.

Presale tickets for the tour are $20 and can be purchased online or by mailing a check to Hudson Garden Club Ticket Chairman, 2499 Blue Heron Dr., Hudson 44236. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Acme Fresh Market and Learned Owl Bookshop are also selling tickets (cash or check) that include a program and tour map.

Tickets at the tour are $25 and are sold at the Village Green tour tent and at the middle school garden shop.