With sunny skies and warming termperatures, the lines formed early Saturday for the start of the every-other-year housewalk sponsored by the Garden Club of Evanston.
Four stately homes in Southeast Evanston, representative of the earliest homes in the suburb, were chosen as the backdrop for floral displays created by club members, many of whom are Garden Club of America Floral Design winners.
This view of the dining room at a home in the 1000 block of Michigan Avenue shows holiday food items on a brilliant orange silk Chinese fabric covering a Stickley table. On the counter in the kitchen was a tasty display of homemade cookies to simulate a neighborhood cookie exchange.
The home in the 1200 block of Forest Avenue was dubbed “A Greener Evanston,” as it celebrated the theme of conservation. This mural, for example, by artist David Rubman, was made entirely of bits and pieces of old credit cards that were recycled into a piece of artwork. Other pieces of art on display included crocheted plastic bags made to look like a dead coral reef, by Mary Ellen Croteau, and a group of wall hangings made of recycled books by artist Charles Heinrich.
“A Thanksgiving Feast” was the theme of the home in the 300 block of Greenwood. The kitchen table (above) was the creation of Pam Elesh, a past president of the club, as it depicts the activity involved in the creation of the holiday meal.
The last stop was a stone and stucco English cottage-style home, built in1925, in the 1600 block of Judson Avenue. The theme of the decorating in this home was “Our Cultural Heritage,” and it featured eclectic collections and arts and crafts-inspired furnishings of a bygone era. At the rear of the property was this popular boutique of items for sale for holiday giving and home decorating.
Proceeds from the housewalk and boutique enable the club to maintain the Shakespeare Garden at Northwestern University, the Wildflower Trail Garden and the Butterfly Garden at the Grosse Pointe Lighthouse, in addition to support of a number of educational and conservation-oriented projects.