Chautauquans line up to tour The Faithful Remnant during the Chautauqua Bird, Tree & Garden Club’s House and Garden Tour Thursday.
JENNA OUTCALT
Staff Writer
Chautauquans talk in front of The Linden Cottage.
A haze in the air didn’t stop the Bird, Tree & Garden Club from holding its House and Garden Tour Thursday. From noon to 5 p.m., people explored the grounds to get an exclusive peek at some of Chautauqua’s iconic homes.
Volunteer tour guide Amy Snyder, stationed at The Lilla Hus on Center Avenue, said the turnout was good this year.
A group discusses the furnishings of The Whitla House.
“The crowd’s been very steady, and people seem to be enjoying it,” she said.
Snyder joked that everyone loves to see what goes on inside everyone else’s house.
“They all have something unique in them that makes it special,” she said.
At The Teat Cottage, people participating in the tour discussed their favorite features of the homes. Karen Wolbert, who was on her fifth house of the tour, said the porches and original furniture always stood out to her, along with the flowers in gardens. Chautauquans Kim Rieck Fisher and Jill Peckinpaugh had just started their tour.
“This is our first one, but we loved it,” Fisher said. “They tied in an old Chautauqua look with modern style.”
Tour host Suzanne Aldrich, right, speaks to Chautauquans lined up outside The Teat Cottage with facts about the property’s history.
They said seeing the houses gave them ideas for their own spaces.
“It’s just so fun to see the inside of all these houses that you walk by every day,” Peckinpaugh said.
Volunteer tour guides Kathy Shomo and Gail Fradin Silberstein welcomed people to The Whitla House, a home filled with Chautauqua memorabilia including an original map of the grounds and CLSC books containing stories set at Chautauqua. They said they enjoyed being a part of the House and Garden Tour.
Chautauquans roam the interior of The Lilla Hus while listening to Carrie Zachry, center, share facts about the property.
“I’ve been doing it for years,” Shomo said. “People just love to see the different homes, from the old ones to the new ones.”
Silberstein and Shomo have known the owner of The Whitla House since youth, and had spent many days in the house they were now showing to others.
“We like to open Chautauqua up to anybody who’s interested and share the wealth of what we have here,” Silberstein said.
