The 2021 Hollin Hills House + Garden Tour
By Stephen Brookes
The House and Garden Tour has been a cherished Hollin Hills tradition since 1953, when the first tour sparked such intense interest that traffic jams formed on Fort Hunt Road. But there may never have been a tour as ambitious, well-planned and wildly successful as the 2021 tour on September 25, when thirteen Hollin Hillers opened their homes and gardens to the public for the day.
Above: a Rebecca Drive home on the Tour; photo Tod Connell
The Tour had been delayed for eighteen months due to the Covid pandemic, but perfect fall weather made it an irresistible event, and over 1,500 visitors descended on this unique community to explore the legacy of architect Charles Goodman. Modernism aficionados could explore a range of designs in both “old” and “new” Hollin Hills, take in any number of imaginatively-done renovations and additions, and tour the rare Goodman aluminum “Alcoa House” on Elba Road — one of the coolest MCM houses ever designed, with only about a dozen still in existence.
The stunning Alcoa House; photo Tod Connell
The purple-and-gold Alcoa House (meticulously restored over the past two years by owners Lee and Peter Braun) was indisputably the highlight of the tour, provoking shock, awe and major house envy in everyone who saw it. But each home on the tour was a unique delight, revealing something new and often very personal about the community.
And the day was memorable not just for the architecture, but also for the striking collections of art and furniture on display – as well as the contingent of architects, designers, artists and and landscape architects on hand to discuss their work.
Take, for instance, Gino Madrid’s museum-quality collection of vintage Scandinavian Modern furniture in his Stafford Road home, which underscored the esthetic links between midcentury furniture and modernist home design. Or the Japanese-inspired gravel-and-boulder karesansui gardens gracefully framing the Safos house on Nordok Place, an example of how modernism can work beautifully even with the most culturally different styles.
The newly-renovated Folio/Engelke house (a Goodman custom design) on Martha’s Road showcased hand-wrought woodwork designed by Daniel Engelke, the owner’s father, and the inventive 2019 remodel by architect Sam Gyulnazarian on his light-filled Mason Hill Road home was a delight to walk through, complementing a terrific earlier remodel by Tom Kerns. No matter where you went on the tour, there was something new and thought-provoking to discover – a reflection of the vibrant creativity that brings this community alive.
What made this tour particularly compelling was the focus on art – which was almost everywhere, deftly integrated with the architecture and gardens. Nowhere was this more dramatic than at the Marthas Road home of Rick and Ann Ward, whose world-class collection of contemporary American art was a major draw of the tour. Inside the Ward’s home was an imaginative collection of works by Sam Gilliam, Gene Davis and other important artists, while the sculpture garden that wraps around the house provided a calm and airy setting for large-scale works in metal and stone by Rob Lorenson, Jeremy Thomas and others (as well as what must be the most charming collection of bird houses in Hollin Hills, if not the world).
Mike Arnold painting the Alcoa House during the Tour; photo Tod Connell
A graceful Japanese garden at the Safos house
Modern masterpieces – and modern artists themselves – seemed to be everywhere. Sharp-eyed art lovers could spot Helen Frankenthaler’s lovely “Spring Veil,” one of Donald Sultan’s colorful “Poppy” screenprints, at least two important Val Bertoia sculptures, several Wolf Kahn pastels, and dozens of other gems at different homes along the route.
The sculptor Caroline Ramersdorfer was on hand at both the Ward and the Shuster/Borman (Popkins Lane) sculpture gardens to talk about her work, while down on Elba you could chat with painter Mike Arnold as he completed a portrait of Alcoa House. Sam Gyulnazarian had several of his own richly colorful paintings on display in his home, while Becky McCarthy exhibited her glass-fused pieces in her Bedford Lane house. Jeff Borman had his father’s lively, dynamic paintings on display, and the Martha’s Road garden of Larry and Jolande Goldberg was a soothing backdrop to Jolande’s own sensual, romantic bronze sculptures and fountains, which looked magical in the dappled summer light.
Kudos to the entire Tour team (led by the formidable Heather Shuster) who kept the momentum going through two pandemic-related postponements, designed a remarkable tour, and brought it off flawlessly. And huge thanks as well to the generous homeowners, and to the 125 volunteers who manned the registration desk, acted as docents, and provided traffic control to keep the event running smoothly. Between ticket sales and sponsorship, the tour raised more than $130,000 for the Civic Association – money that will go toward maintaining the parks and other community projects.
— Stephen Brookes / October 2021
An elegant kitchen in the Madrid home
Birdhouses in the Ward garden
The Goldberg home