Horizons 7th Annual Homes, Gardens & Music Tour.
Join us for Northumberland’s 7th midsummer treat for the senses!
It’s a house tour, garden stroll and mini music festival all rolled into one!
Enjoy concerts throughout the afternoon, light refreshments and a glass of wine on this annual visit to some fascinating residences in the Cobourg and Grafton area. Heritage landmarks, homes with a view and gardens aplenty!
1)The Cedars
Down the winding lane, through the woods and past the coachhouse, emerges a Cobourg classic in simple Georgian style with Italianate details. With its wide verandah and expanse of lawn overlooking the lake, it is the quintessential summer home of the 1880’s.
2) Victoria View
The French villa style home, built in 1874, once served as the office of a popular Cobourg physician. Metal crown mouldings, beveled etched glass doors, expansive front verandah and wide board pine floors are among the features of this distinctive home, now a B&B.
3) A Blake Street Garden
A mere three years old, the garden reflects the principles of scale and proportion, its design complementing its surroundings. Serpentine grassy paths curve around flower beds planted informally with shrubs, bulbs, perennials and annuals all providing colour and seduction.
4) Reynar House, 1876
An elegant Italianate home built as a wedding present from the bride’s parents for Ida Hayden and Alfred Reynar, professor of English at Victoria College on University Ave., (prior to its 1892 relocation to Toronto). Their descendant Miss Josephine Reynar, lived in the house until 1980.
5) Hayden House
This Gothic Villa style home was built in 1871 on one of Cobourg’s finest streets. It was expanded in 1884 by its new owner, a Montreal heiress, who added fin de siecle flourishes such as the large curvaceous two tier porch, ionic columns and pilasters.
6) A Henry Street Garden
With boxwood hedge and wrought iron accents, this garden has been developed to enhance the setting of its Victorian residence. On an irregularly shaped lot, its quiet half graces a shady slope; the other blazes brilliant colour and texture in classic beds combining flowering shrubs and perennials.
7) The Tinney House, 1880
A “T-shaped structure consisting of a square shaped main house and one-storey wing on the south side” was originally a clapboard dwelling built by Cobourg carpenter Edward Tinney. In disrepair a century later, restoration and creative renovation have now given the house new life and lustre.
8) Gardens of 105 Old Danforth Rd. (1812 Antiques)
An early focus on structures, pathways and pond has produced a garden of character, variety and inspiration -for artists and for brides! Here, a shady Asian garden; there, a bright, colourful English style garden. And beyond the artistic ephemera are beds and borders containing both old favourites and newer exotic species.
9) Grover House
Home of one of the original 1799 settlers in Haldimand, John Grover, who also built the first Grafton Inn. The Loyalist architecture of this 1820’s house, one of the oldest in the village, is complemented by its classic garden. Sunny at its centre, it opens to a rediscovered rockery and a shady brook on its periphery.
10) Lakeridge Gardens
Up and over the rise of the hill, it’s a panorama – Lake Ontario and Northumberland Hills. A marvel emerges of hill gardens evolved from empty fields and over huge boulders excavated from the foundation of the house. Now raised beds, border gardens, ponds and waterfall captivate.
11) Cottage with door yard gardens
A creative reproduction of an 1840’s Grafton area worker’s cottage that is a juxtaposition of old and new. The interior’s modernized open concept floorplan is balanced by its paneled wainscoting. Outside, two traditional “dooryard” gardens are home to modern hybrids of old-fashioned garden favourites.
Tickets for Homes, Gardens & Music are $25 ($17 tax receipt per ticket), available in Cobourg at Cobourg Tourism Office (Dressler House), Clarke’s Music, Quinn’s Blooms and Greenery; in Port Hope at Furby House Books, Garden Accents, and Herma’s Fine Foods and Gifts; and in Grafton at 1812 Antiques.
Also available at Horizons, 50 Covert St. 905-372-5483 or 1-888-729-9928
On July 11, tickets are available at Cobourg Tourism Office at 212 King St. W. 1-888-Cobourg
