Next weekend – Friday through Sunday is the 2009 Druid Hills Tour of Homes & Gardens & Artist Market.     Purchase tickets in advance for $20 or $25 the day of tour.   The tours & artist market is open on Friday & Saturday from 10 to 5pm and Sunday from 1 to 5pm.   The tour is a volunteer project of the Druid Hills Civic Association and proceeds benefit historic preservation and park & green space restoration.   It is a great chance to see some gorgeous historic and newer construction homes – and what a great cause!   Here are more details on the tour.   I am going to be volunteering at one of the houses on Saturday from 1-5pm – 1211 Oakdale Road – come by and say hello!

Druid Hills was an assemblage of a large tract of land by Atlanta developer Joel Hurt.  Hurt hired Olmstead, America’s leading landscape architect whose designs include the Biltmore House, NC & Central Park, NYC.  It was to be designed as Olmstead’s “ideal residential suburb”.   Many well-known Atlanta architects including Neel Reid, Philip Trammel Shutze, and Lewis Crook, Jr. designed homes in Druid Hills.  Located near Emory University and Virginia Highland, you can easily walk to shops & restaurants.   Click here for more information.