Kitchen Tour Going Into Branchville This Year

RIDGEFIELD — From the beautiful house of designer Alexander Julian to the house where Houdini himself once practiced in the swimming pool, this year’s Ridgefield Kitchen Tour will take ticket-holders through a variety of interesting and eclectic homes, most of which are set in the southern part of town known as the Branchville section of Ridgefield.

On Friday, May 6, The Ridgefield Kitchen Tour will run from 10 am to 2 pm, with a special breakfast for Patron ticket holders at 8:30 am.

The tour will be honoring the heart of the home – the kitchen – and attendees will get a peek into some of the most beautiful homes in Fairfield County. This year’s tour includes the home of Alexander and Meagan Julian (Mr Julian, a clothing designer, has textile designs in the Smithsonian’s National Design Museum’s permanent collection, among other credentials), who designed their own working kitchen; and a new construction by builder Reed Whipple on Branchville Road that features a large knotty pine country kitchen, designed by Putnam Kitchens.

Two homes on High Ridge Avenue will be open. The first is a restored and renovated antique dwelling that illustrates how to make a house conveniently modern while retaining the original charm of the period, and the second is a 1909 brick Georgian Colonial that was originally built by Charles Henry Holt, brother and publishing partner of Henry Holt.

An original carriage house on Peaceable Street is also on the tour, with a kitchen that features two very large center islands and a cozy dining banquette in the breakfast room. Also on the tour is a home in Westmoreland Estates with a very contemporary kitchen, and a European country style kitchen in a home on Old Mountain Road formerly owned by the actor Robert Vaughn.

The tour will run from 10 am until 2 pm.

Tickets, $35 for the tour or $80 for the tour and breakfast. Proceeds will benefit The Ridgefield Community Center, Maimonides Academy of Western Connecticut and The Aldrich Museum. They can be purchased in Ridgefield at Squash’s, The Complete Kitchen and Ridgefield Community Center, and in Greenwich at The Complete Kitchen. Tickets can also be reserved by calling 203-645-3259.