The 6th Annual Downtown Raleigh Home Tour: Everyday Urban Living With the Locals
If you‘ve ever wanted to live in downtown Raleigh or simply wondered what downtown living’s like, now is the time for you to experience it up close and personal from a local’s perspective. On Saturday, May 15th, from 10am-6pm, take advantage of the opportunity to live like a local and visit downtown dwellings during the 6th Annual Downtown Raleigh Home Tour.
Ride the R-LINE (the free downtown circular bus), engage with local downtown residents, grab a bite at a downtown eatery, shop a local retailer, and even take in Artsplosure -- one of the most popular annual arts festivals on the Raleigh events calendar which is happening in downtown the same weekend. All of these activities can be interspersed with strolling from neighborhood to neighborhood, taking in charming houses to lavish condominiums all within a very compact radius of the downtown landscape.
Featured on the tour are a total of twenty-six dwellings to pique your interests. Eleven condominium communities will be showcased with at least two floor plans available within each to see, while fifteen single family homes in the surrounding downtown neighborhoods including Historic Oakwood, Boylan Heights, Thompson-Hunter, and Village at Pilot Mill will be opened to the public. Also on view will be the new carriage home and townhouse style condominiums of Blount Street Commons, and the historic Lewis-Smith house, constructed in 1855 and on the National Register of Historic Places.
Expect to see an array of architecture represented. Everything from modern state-of-the-art high rises, to Second Empire, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, and Craftsman style builds will be well reflected.
The intriguing dwellings on the tour are a mix of personalized, owner occupied spaces as well as properties for sale. So, pay close attention should you become inspired during the tour and decide downtown living is for you. Although the tour is self-guided, volunteers will be available at each showcased property as well as stationed on all R-LINE buses to offer directions, answer questions, and simplify general navigation around downtown.
Be assured, this is a tour that strives to offer a real immersion into the downtown Raleigh lifestyle. Take advantage of an opportunity to pick a local’s brain with your most nagging questions. Don’t be surprised to find residents’ enthusiasm contagious, as their reasons for dwelling downtown and their love of their personal spaces shows vividly. The heart of Raleigh beats loudly in downtown, and here is an inside chance to see it, hear it, and feel it first hand.
HelloRaleigh Tip: All participants are to check in at the Home Tour Headquarters at 150 Fayetteville St. prior to beginning the self-guided tour. The number of attendees for the upcoming tour is anticipated to top last year’s admission of 1,000 people, so buying tickets online in advance is encouraged, although tickets will also be available at the headquarters on the day of the tour. Visit www.downtownraleighhometour.com for further details.
Posted by Angela Risko
