Amy Poster, left, with Marianne Sweeney, are co-chairpersons of the annual home tour hosted by the Women's Club of Glen Ridge. They sit before a painting of Emily Chapman, whose husband, Henry, was a club benefactor. Henry Chapman donated $100,000 in honor of his wife after she died and, in total, donated $233,000 to the club. The club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
The annual house tour of local properties, hosted by the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge and scheduled for Sunday, May 4, is being given an added attraction this year.
Because this is the centennial year of the dedication of the clubhouse, four garden tours will also be offered. According to Amy Poster, co-chair of the event along with Marianne Sweeney, eight properties altogether may be toured: four homes in Glen Ridge, one home and garden in Montclair, a garden in Montclair and two gardens in Glen Ridge.
“Two of the gardens are well-known,” Poster said at the clubhouse last week. “They’ve previously been part of the Garden and Conservancy Organization tours, a nationwide non-profit.”
The Montclair home and garden tour property, she said, belongs to Jenny Bakshi, a landscape designer. The Montclair estate section garden of Cynthia Corhan-Aitken, also a landscape designer, will also be available for viewing and one of the Glen Ridge gardens has been part of tours by the Essex County Chapter of the Native Plant Society of NJ. Poster said club president Susan Costa was instrumental in putting together this year’s selection of properties.
The tours are from 1 to 4 p.m.and self-guided. Participants will be provided with a tour book, available at the clubhouse, from 10 a.m. on tour day. From 3 to 5 p.m., there will be a champagne reception at the clubhouse. There will also be vendors during the afternoon. A fee is being charged for the event.
The Girls Club of the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge will be volunteering at each property and more than 60 docents have signed up to be on-hand.
“Some of these docents have been doing the tour for years,” Sweeney said.
Poster and Sweeney did not quite know how long these tours had been going on, but Sweeney said she knew it was for at least 20 years. The tour is always well sold, but Sweeney was certain that parking would not be a problem at any sites.
One of the homes, on Ridgewood Avenue, was built in 1892. According to Sweeney, it is classically inspired and has been updated in five phases over 11 years.
The house has received a Glen Ridge Preservation Society award.
There is a 1920s Colonial home on the tour. Here, Sweeney promised that people will see Old World elegance meeting modern day comfort in a gracefully proportioned setting.
“Realtors and interior designers helped in selecting the homes,” she said.
“Every home is exquisite.”
The tour has no rain date for the tour, but should it rain, the women’s club will provide tourists with booties.
“We’ve done the tour in inclement weather,” Sweeney said. “And our pre-sale is excellent. As many as 210 tickets have been sold and 300 is our limit.”
About the Author
