Whether people are enamored by brightly colored gardens with myriad types of flowers or homes that aptly depict period historic times, or both, the 21st Newtown Historical Society House and Garden Tour on Sunday, June 25, will be a "must attend."

The self-guided event will be presented rain or shine, from 11 am until 5 pm.

This year the annual event includes homes overlooking Taunton Lake, mixing early American and Modern styles, providing perfect artists' retreats, and blending into their surrounding flowering landscapes. The outdoor sights offer winding brooks and walkways, hideaways, and perfected landscapes.

At two of the lakeside homes - one from the 1950s and the other from 1916 - artists Pat Barkman and Susan McLaughlin Rosen look out their back windows while painting landscapes and imaginative views of nature. Both dwellings are surrounded by a different variety of foliage from spring to fall.

From the third Taunton Lake home, an amazing contemporary with a wall of windows, sights include Newtown's swooping bald eagles.

Those who enjoy history will want to visit the Federal-period house on Boggs Hill with its spacious modern addition and unique landscape and the 1738 home on Brushy Hill that was moved from Middletown in 1990.

Nearby on Shepard Hill is a custom-built contemporary with eclectic designs indoors and out.

In addition to all of these homes and gardens are two more stunning grounds on Main Street and Sweet Meadow Road. At the former, outside a renovated 1787 home, lies a wealth of perennials, interesting shrubs and climbing plants that will test enthusiasts' gardening knowledge. The owners of the latter home have been thoughtfully landscaping their three acres for the past 22 years, offering a cohesive blend of types, textures, shapes and sizes that also feature color for all three growing seasons.

To top everything off are the gardens at the historical society's Mathew Curtiss house, which will be ready for all ticket holders as well.

Tickets are $25 in advance for adults, and will be $30 on the day of the tour. Children's tickets, for ages 8-15, are $10 and $15, respectively.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; The UPS Store, 261 Main Street South (within Waterfall Plaza); and The Toy Tree, 14 Church Hill Road (within Church Hill at Queen Commons).

On June 25, tickets will be sold only at The Matthew Curtiss House, 44 Main Street, between 10 am and 2 pm.

Additional information is available at newtownhistory.org.

House & Garden Notes

Home and Garden of Pat Barkman

49 Taunton Lake Road

The 1955 Taunton Lake home of artist and writer Pat Barkman is a step back in time.

Ms Barkman has lovingly created a unique space where she can be inspired and do all the things she loves, from art to gardening. Filled with midcentury details and the homeowner's creative touches, it is hard for anyone not to be inspired.

An an avid organic gardener, Ms Barkman opens her studio and garden annually for guests to enjoy.

This country home includes a picturesque art gallery that is surrounded by flowers in all three growing seasons. From the gallery and most windows of the house, Ms Barkman can easily view a winding stream as it cuts through the entire width of the property and rushes toward the lake, providing a year-round paintable picture.

Ms Barkman, who has enjoyed this garden for more than 20 years and personally doing 90 percent of the work, describes it as "an artist's dream."

Home and Garden of William and Erica Barber

159 Boggs Hill Road

Built in 1783, the Barber home is a stunning example of Federal-style architecture.

The original part of the house is brick, which is a bit unusual for this area, and a 2001 addition seamlessly highlights wide open spaces and modern conveniences.

Situated on two acres dotted with lush gardens and a charming stone wall, guests will instantly be transported back to early Newtown.

For the Barbers, the growing season begins in April when the peonies, camassia, and daffodils emerge along the edges of the wetlands, followed by the many varieties of hostas - divided from specimens lovingly given by a dear, late friend.

As the days warm up, the borders along an intensely sunny back walkway ignite with blue nepeta, salvia, ladybells, and lavender accented by the lime glow of spirea and silver carpet that basks at the feet of old roses beyond. Birds nest in the pergola-hugging clematis overlooking a stone-stepped bank of flowing lilacs, hydrangea, sea swells iris, and sedum autumn joy succulents. Summer brings daylilies and shasta daisies along the side of the house.

As summer wanes, the coolness of the garden beneath a towering maple beckons as moss grows on stone-cast mushrooms.

This lovely and well-loved yard, almost completely surrounded by a stone wall, is an ideal setting for their family of three high-energy boys and three high-spirited dogs.

Home at 61 Brushy Hill Road

This circa 1738 quintessential saltbox stands so stately on a hill that it appears as if it has always been there. However, that is not the case.

The home was originally located in what is now Middletown, and in 1990 it was painstakingly dismantled and reconstructed here in Newtown.

Chestnut floors, hand-hewn beams, and a seven-foot fireplace with a working beehive oven are just a few of the original features in this beautiful antique home.

Home and Garden of Dr Lionel and Margareta Brown

19 Shepard Hill Road

This custom-built contemporary is the definition of a family home. Completed in 1978 by the Browns, the eclectic interior is filled with unique Swedish antiques, furniture built by the couple's son, and special designs by their daughter.

The light-filled home sits on six acres featuring landscaped and natural spaces.

The property has been landscaped from dense woods practically to perfection over the last 40 years. Described as an "all-season yard," it can more accurately be called a park after evolving through the years based on the family's needs. The owners added a delightful pool and waterfall as their children grew, the property was a perfect setting for their daughter's wedding, and later provided an ideal place to show off their son's creative stone and metal sculptures. Now, it is the favorite playground for the grandkids, complete with a winter sledding trail.

Home of Ben and Kirstin Pilchard

53 Mount Pleasant Road

Stunning views of Taunton Lake are featured in every room of this 1972 contemporary. It is the perfect home for year-round entertaining with its open floor plan.

A full wall of windows is awe-inspiring. Those attending the house and garden tour should certainly keep their eyes open for the majestic bald eagles flying over the lake... if they can pull themselves away from the view.

Vintage furniture and original artwork by the homeowner and local artists create a cool, casual interior. The home blends impeccably into the lakefront property.

Home and Garden of David and Susan Rosen

43 Taunton Lake Road

The 1916 lakeside cottage, called Foxglove, is a picture perfect retreat.

The Taunton Lake house blends harmoniously with its surroundings to create a sense of calm where one can truly appreciate the beauty of nature and all of its wonders. Nestled close to the lake, privately set and barely visible from the road, and surrounded by stone paths, it is easy to see how this enchanting home inspires Susan to create whimsical and provocative paintings under her artist's name, Susan McLaughlin.

Once exiting the home, one cannot help but notice a lush growth of pachysandra that border the stone paths and the climbing hydrangea that completely cover the stone chimney from the ground all the way to the roof.

Paper-bark birch trees, with their unique scraggly look, greet guests. There is a wide variety of perennials in the gardens around the house, carefully cared for by Susan.

Rose trees, clematis, sargent cherry, and a huge hickory nut tree all play their role in simply making the Rosens, and their guests, want to sit, relax and unwind.

The Gardens of Maureen Rohmer

27 Main Street, Newtown

This wonderful 1787 home has been thoughtfully renovated to retain its authenticity. It has been able to keep its stately presence although nestled between the larger properties of The Dana-Holcombe House and Cyrenius H. Booth Library.

Much more surprising, though, is the spacious back lawn, lovely three-season gardens, renovated barn, and prevailing scent of lavender and poppies that greet Ms Rohmer and anyone visiting 27 Main Street.

Ms Rohmer has graciously opened her gardens for the tour where the wealth of perennials, interesting shrubs, and climbing plants will test the gardening knowledge or some, while simply enthralling others. 

The Gardens of Dr Jeffrey and Nancy Metzger

9 Sweet Meadow Road

The Metzgers built their colonial home about 22 years ago and have been thoughtfully landscaping their three-acre property ever since.

Dr Metzger is a knowledgeable do-it-yourselfer who constructed his own stone walls and deck planters, and can name every single plant, shrub, tree, groundcover, and flower on the property.

The result of his efforts, described by him as a "labor of love," as well as Mrs Metzger's skillful direction, offer a cohesive blend of types, textures, shapes, and sizes that also feature color for all three growing seasons.