Tour of Seven Gracious Westfield and Mountainside Homes Features Kitchens and Local Culinary Talent

Westfield and Mountainside are well known for their many beautiful homes, both old and new, in a myriad of styles. This year, the Hearth and Home Kitchen Tour will again give the public a chance to see seven of them from the inside.

The self-guided tour, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., is a fund-raiser for Holy Trinity Interparochial School, with campuses in Westfield and Mountainside. The length of the tour has been extended an hour this year to allow for a more leisurely pace.

Each of these amazing homes has a different style both inside and out. As always, the homes feature recently redesigned kitchens and other first-floor space. None of them has appeared on in any of the previous years’ line-ups.

“All of these homes are amazing, each in their own special way,” said Committee Chair Robyn Kelly, a parent at the school and a local resident. “We are so grateful to homeowners who are opening their doors to the tour. Their warmth and generosity is a blessing to us.”

Another feature of the tour is a culinary sampling at each home prepared and presented by a local chef or baker. “You don’t have to schedule time to stop for lunch!” Kelly said. “You will be able to eat a bit at each house.”

Tour attendees can also meet with the homes’ interior designers, contractors and kitchen planners, who will be on hand to answer questions. “Every year we’ve gotten wonderful feedback from the professionals who take the time to be present in the homes,” Kelly said. “It’s another special element of the event – that you get to talk to the people who designed the kitchen, some special element of it or in some cases built the home.”

One of the homes will feature a raffle of many prizes, many of which are home-décor themed. Raffle tickets will be on sale at that house. Winning tickets will be selected at 4 p.m. and winners will be notified by phone.

The first 400 ticket holders will receive a gift bag with free samples, courtesy of the many sponsors of the event.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $35 by mailing a check to: HTIS HSA, 336 First Avenue, Westfield, N.J., or by credit card by going to http://htisnj.com. Tickets can also be purchased at any house on the day of the event for $40.

Questions can be addressed to kitchentour@htisnj.com.

All proceeds from the event will benefit Holy Trinity Interparochial School in Westfield, N.J. Holy Trinity, a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, is a parochial school educating students in grades 1 through 8 at the Westfield campus on First Avenue and early education program for 2 ½-year-olds through kindergarten at Our Lady of Lourdes campus in Mountainside.