Garden Pilgrimage

For 32 years after noted artist Grace Turnbull died in 1976, the house that she built in Guilford in 1928 sat empty, except for a few erstwhile renters - and some squirrels in the roof. Then, in 2008, manufacturing executive Douglas Hamilton III and his wife, Angela, a procurement manager, bought the six-bedroom, five-bath Spanish Colonial with Bermuda influences, in the 200 block of Chancery Road. But the Hamiltons didn't move in until December 2011, because the house, though uniquely artistic, was antiquated, poorly laid out and in ill repair.

For 32 years after noted artist Grace Turnbull died in 1976, the house that she built in Guilford in 1928 sat empty, except for a few erstwhile renters - and some squirrels in the roof. Then, in 2008, manufacturing executive Douglas Hamilton III and his wife, Angela, a procurement manager, bought the six-bedroom, five-bath Spanish Colonial with Bermuda influences, in the 200 block of Chancery Road. But the Hamiltons didn't move in until December 2011, because the house, though uniquely artistic, was antiquated, poorly laid out and in ill repair.

The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage -- celebrating its 55th year -- has long been a favorite of daytrippers. It sponsors tours in seven counties and Baltimore City. The pilgrimage opened yesterday in Wicomico County. It will continue weekends through May 16.Today, houses will be open in Worcester County, which celebrates its 250th anniversary this year. Houses range from a 1859 bed and breakfast plantation to a modern steel and glass structure built on a salt marsh. The first is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the best examples of Italianate architecture on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore.

From the dentils that punctuate the roofline to the wide staircase leading upstairs, the home of Gretchen and A. Denis Clift is a classic. And it's in an Annapolis community where architecture is distinctive, gardens are gracious and century-old trees shade winding streets. The house offers views of the Severn River through original windows of rippled glass and looks over sections of Wardour. Even though the neighborhood is in the city of Annapolis, it feels anything but urban.

The 54th annual Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage will tour some of Howard County's most significant buildings of the past and present. On next Sunday's tour are:1. The Patapsco Female InstituteProceeds from the Howard County section of the house and garden pilgrimage will benefit the Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute who are working with the county toward stabilization of the former school and landscaping the surrounding grounds.Chi Chi Brown, president of the Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute, said proceeds from the pilgrimage will go toward two projects.

They might be museums. The two Bolton Hill houses are dignified enough, and the most finicky curator would be happy to snap up such fine chandeliers and marble fireplace mantels. The rugs are Persian, the prints by Audubon and the atmosphere genteel enough that one is tempted to speak in hushed tones.Relax. Although the Gamse and Woltereck homes are featured on the Bolton Hill walking tour segment of this year's Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage, neither is a shrine to bygone elegance.

Nothing says winter is really, really over better than the sight and scent of daffodils, geraniums, daisies, petunias and ever-hardy marigolds.Maybe spring is discovering a beautiful new flower to grace your garden. Or maybe spring means the annual trip to the store to purchase potted plants for displaying on decks, balconies and patios.However you cut it, flowers and plants add a lot to our lives, particularly during this time of year, as we shake off the winter blues. This is the season to check out what is out there, see how others are decorating with flowers, choose how to plant your garden or decide on a landscape design.

In recent years, the pleasures visitors have gotten from Baltimore's premiershow house and Maryland's largest house tour have been very different. The Symphony Decorators' Show House (opening next Sunday) traditionally offers glamour and fantasy, while the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage (which starts April 27) features private homes with "real" interior design.This year is a little different. The decorators' show house, Stratford on the Green in Guilford, is unusual because it's so large and the rooms are so small.

The annual Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage offers a peek into some of the most scenic and historically significant homes and grounds in the state, from Baltimore City to the Eastern Shore. Today the tour turns to bucolic Talbot County. In the town of Trappe, where the day's events take place, you'll find sites with a wealth of classic as well as quirky touches. Here are some highlights: The 63rd Annual Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage Sites of the statewide roving pilgrimage: Today, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Talbot County Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.: Anne Arundel County Sunday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.: St. Mary's County May 9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Harford County May 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Ruxton, Baltimore County Tickets for each of the tours are $20. They can be bought on the day of the event at any of the houses.

A winding road narrows in St. Mary's County toward the tip of a peninsula. Here, a partially hidden entrance with a sign that reads "St. Marie's" heralds the home of Loretta "Tiny" and Francis Taylor. It is an enchanted, short ride up the driveway, which is bounded on both sides by verdant lawns, toward the main Georgian-style house. Against its white siding and three tall columns of its portico, myriad flowers and blossoming trees burst forth in colors both pale and bold. A brick walk leads to the home's front door, providing the first, brief glance of water before entering the interior foyer.

Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage The 2012 Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage includes visits to more than 50 private homes, gardens, farms, churches and historic sites across five Maryland jurisdictions: Bolton Hill (Saturday, April 28); St. Mary's County (Saturday, May 5); Talbot County (Saturday, May 12); Howard County (Saturday, May 19); and Anne Arundel County (Sunday, May 20). Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 the day of the tour. Lunches are offered on the county tours for an additional charge.

A winding road narrows in St. Mary's County toward the tip of a peninsula. Here, a partially hidden entrance with a sign that reads "St. Marie's" heralds the home of Loretta "Tiny" and Francis Taylor. It is an enchanted, short ride up the driveway, which is bounded on both sides by verdant lawns, toward the main Georgian-style house. Against its white siding and three tall columns of its portico, myriad flowers and blossoming trees burst forth in colors both pale and bold. A brick walk leads to the home's front door, providing the first, brief glance of water before entering the interior foyer.

Some of the state's most spectacular gardens will be on display over the next three weekends as part of the 2008 Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, the public can visit 11 sites in Kent County, including Eastern Shore plantation homes and 19th-century townhouses in Chestertown. Tomorrow, the tour comes to Baltimore's Mount Vernon district from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes Washington Monument and Four Parks, the Knabe House, 4 East Madison Inn, Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, Asbury House, the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion and a restored 19th-century home on West Mount Vernon Place.

TODAY IKEBANA EXHIBIT Watch a demonstration of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, at 1 p.m. and peruse the various styles of Ikebana, which will be on display by members of Ikebana International, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today at the U.S. National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave. N.E., Washington. Free. 202-245-4523 or usna.usda.gov. SATURDAY HOUSE AND GARDEN PILGRIMAGE The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage wraps up Saturday with a walking tour of the Rockland Village area of Baltimore County.

THE STRUCTURES are as grand in appearance as they are rich in history. And the family names behind them resemble a roster of prominent old-line Harford County families: Hess. Voss. Keene. These striking residences - and the stories behind them and their occupants - will open Saturday to visitors with an appetite for architecture, history and the lifestyles of the well-to-do. Several sprawling homes, many with opulent gardens, in rural Harford and northern Baltimore counties make up the final leg of the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage 2005, a statewide event that began last month with a walking tour of historical sites in Chestertown in Kent County.

Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute Inc. will sponsor the Howard County portion of the 68th Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage, with stops at elegant homes and picturesque streets, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. A picnic, accompanied by music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Colonial America, will be held in Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park. The cost is $10. Tickets for the tour are $25. Reservations are not required for the self-timed driving tour. Tickets, which can be purchased on the day of the tour, are needed to enter the homes and gardens.

A generous dose of admiration, a bit of awe, a pinch of envy and a dash of romance: Those are the ingredients that unfailingly draw visitors to historic house tours.Not only do you get to see how other people feather their lovely nests, you get repeated glimpses into the past.The house known as Part of Providence, one of more than a dozen on the Anne Arundel County section of this year's Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage, is a place where the present nestles comfortably in the arms of the past.

Spring means it's time to put on comfortable shoes and tour some of central and eastern Maryland's most beautiful and historic homes and gardens, all for a good cause. The annual Baltimore Symphony Associates Decorators' Show House (April 25-May 23) raises money for the orchestra's educational and community outreach programs. The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage, which begins Saturday in Baltimore, supports efforts to preserve and restore "architecturally significant properties" in the city and in Cecil, Talbot, Charles, Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties.

BALTIMORE IS a great place to live, but you'd better have been born into the sixth generation of a local family to know its secrets. This town will not unfold itself to just anybody. I'm not sure that what I'm about to recommend will satisfy all your curiosity about old Baltimore, but it will be a fine way to spend three successive Sunday afternoons in May. I speak of a trio of interesting house tours, one tomorrow at St. Paul and 22nd streets (the Old Goucher neighborhood), another in Fells Point on May 11 and the other, just over the Baltimore County line, in Bare Hills, adjacent to Lake Roland, on May 18. I have long been a sucker for house tours.