FAIRFIELD, Conn — Lovers of fine architecture and design, and admirers of all things beautiful can once again delight in Near & Far Aid’s upcoming Designer House Tour, a unique opportunity to visit several homes in Fairfield, Southport and Westport that reflect a variety of architectural and visionary decorating styles.
The 2014 Designer House Tour, set for Friday, May 2nd, continues Near & Far Aid’s tradition of community giving. Each of the outstanding homes selected for the House Tour is based on premier décor, architecture and geography — all exhibit extraordinary splendor and uniqueness.
The House Tour has a rich history, dating back to 1977. It was an integral part of Near & Far Aid’s flagship fundraising event of that time, the Southport-Westport Antiques Show, which commenced in 1965. The success of the Antiques Show, considered one of the five top shows in the country, quickly contributed enormously to Near & Far Aid’s fund-granting ability, and the House Tour added a great deal to its weekend-long appeal as a “must see” event. The definitive theme to that first tour was the history of Southport as seen through the houses in and around this charming village. In subsequent years, this tour was expanded to include homes in Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield and Westport.
Scores of volunteers have been busy preparing for the celebrated House Tour. Tickets for the event are available online at WWW.NEARANDFARAID.ORG/EVENTS.
“We are extremely excited about the upcoming House Tour, and all of the volunteers helping Near & Far Aid have been working in earnest to make this year’s event the best ever. It is always inspiring to see so many talented people and designers collaborate to showcase innovative homes,” said Near & Far Aid president Bitsy Higgins of Westport. “As always, we are especially grateful to the homeowners who so generously open their homes and to our sponsors who make this day possible.”
The 2014 Near & Far Aid Designer House Tour: “Celebrating the Art of Living,” offers patrons an extraordinary opportunity to have a private view inside many of the most prestigious properties in Fairfield County, where each moment of life, the important occasions, and the simple, every day events are surrounded by imagination, beauty, style and vision.
To open the day’s event, Near & Far Aid will host a pre-tour breakfast at the Patterson Club in Fairfield where internationally acclaimed interior designer and textile designer Kathryn M. Ireland will dazzle the audience with a discussion on style and design. Her signature style has been described as ‘comfortable, bohemian, and family friendly with large doses of color and a lack of orthodoxy’. Ireland’s fabrics are distributed across the United States and her work has been published internationally including features in People magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and Architectural Digest among others.
To culminate another successful tour, Near & Far Aid will host its celebratory party, “Toast the Tour” at the Fairfield Hunt Club. The celebration will be held under a Sperry sailcloth tent on the polo field and will feature a Luxury Car Show presented by Miller Motorcars, savory hors d’oeuvres, top shelf martini and champagne stations as well as specialty hand rolled cigars.