Lake Morton Home Tour, on Monday....

Joe and I got up Saturday morning, and started our day with a delicious (late) breakfast at KeKe's Restaurant.  French toast, scrambled eggs and sausage, and coffee.  From KeKe's, we went to the Farmer's Market so Joe could get another bag of his favorite (mine too) chocolate chunk cookies, from the bread lady.

Then, on to the 12th Annual Historic Lake Morton Home & Garden Tour.  I am happy to say that my knees held up, with the help of the Trolley and my cane.  We got to all the homes, but one (which we saw two years ago, anyway).  We also skipped the home that was only showing their garden.  We did not tour 'in order' so the number signs are just to remind me which house it was so I can compare it in the book.

Please click on the photos to enlarge them!!

House #1 is owned by the Rector at one of the local Episcopal churches and his wife.  They purchased the two-story frame vernacular style home, which was built in 1923, in 2005.  The home had been made into three apartments, and the front porch had been enclosed. It is now a lovely single family home, and the porch is back to original. They have little children, and the closet under the stairway has been converted into a Harry Potter space, just right for pillows and lots of books.  Very cute!  If this house was all one floor, it would have been my favorite.  So well done.  Joe went upstairs, but I did not.  :(

The second house we went into is actually my absolute favorite of the bunch.  It is a bungalow style house, built in 1925.  The current owners bought it in 1999 and have been restoring it to its original design, including the carport.  It is quite big, with high ceilings, storage space and a really big and well-done kitchen.  I fell in love with it.  I'm sorry we're not allowed to take photos inside the homes.  Most have lovely built-ins and fireplaces, as well as amazing woodwork and hardwood floors.

The next home, is just down the street from the first two (very close to my work, by the way).  It was built in 1922 and sat empty (for some reason) for several years. The current owners bought the home in 1987 and have been restoring it, through the years, including new wiring and central heat and air.  Bathrooms and the kitchen have been updated also.  I did not go upstairs, but Joe did.

We had a beautiful day to be out and about.  It was not too warm, and was just a bit cloudy. More people were walking the route, which left plenty of seats on the trolleys for us!!

The next home was built in 1940 and is of the vernacular style.  The current owner is a hair stylist, and she had her eye on this house for a long time.  She purchased it in May 2014 and has been very busy restoring the home.  She said what attracted her to the home were the sunroom, all the built-in niches, and the arched doorways.  She has restored the kitchen, keeping the original cabinets, the bathrooms have been updated and all the wood floors restored.  I really like this house too. She has done a great job.

The next bungalow was built in 1925, and was purchased by the current owner in 2004.  She moved in, in 2007 and continues with restoration projects.  She has named her home "Happinest" and has used bird houses throughout the house, as decorations.  She has a sign on the front porch, with Happinest on it.  The home has original wood floors, an original claw-foot tub, original fireplace, and original built-in book cases.  She has done a very nice job with the restoration.

House #4 was actually the next to the last one we visited.  It was built in 1928, in the Dutch Tudor style.  The owner of this house actually grew up in the Historic District, and is currently the Chairman of the Historic Preservation Board, and is President of Historic Lakeland.  He bought the house in 1988 and has been restoring this (BIG) 2,700 sq. ft., 4 bedroom, 2 bath home.  He removed all additions that were not historically accurate, but did add central heat and air.  Some of the unique features include the original built-in cabinets on either side of the fireplace, and a concrete range hood in the kitchen. He did not let visitors go upstairs, so Joe didn't get to peek up there for me.  I wasn't real impressed with this one.  It was just okay.

And the last home we visited is actually for sale right now (let me know if you are interested!).  It is a two-story Classical Revival style, built in 1921.  It was originally built as a two-bedroom, two bath home, with the entire second floor as the master suite, with walk-in closets and a bathroom (ahead of its time, I would say!).  The current owner bought it in 2006 and has spent these past nine years restoring the home.  It had been chopped up to include five bedrooms and all of that plywood had to be removed.  I enjoyed seeing the home, but did not go upstairs, and Joe decided not to either, though I really would have liked to see how the master suite had been restored.  That 2nd floor balcony comes off the master bedroom. Nice.

We finished the tour with plenty of time to make it to our 4:00 Vigil Mass.  After church, we went to Publix for some groceries.  I made fajitas for our dinner, with some black bean soup.  Yummy!!

Sunday started late.  We slept in, to our usual 8:30 on Sunday....it just happened to be 9:30, instead (thanks for the time change!).  I made a good breakfast and then did some spot cleaning before getting the laundry started.  Joe worked around the house, outside, for awhile.  I made a pot of soup for our dinner, and we relaxed through the evening.  Back to work today, but it will be a short week for me, since I have Friday off, to head down to Naples for the weekend.  We want to see Tristan before his spring break.  He and Kathy are going to Germany for Tristan's graduation trip (a little early).

Thanks for reading through my post today!  I appreciate your time and your comments!  Peace & love!