This Saturday, October 4th, marks the second annual Crown Heights North House Tour!

The festivities begin with a Home Buyers and Finance Workshop from 9:30 – 10:30. A panel of experts will advise on topics ranging from first time home buying to predatory lending. There’s a kick off ceremony at 11:15 and then the tour begins at noon. Until 5pm. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. More info on the CHN website.

There are 10 homes on the tour this year. Beautiful restored period gems, dripping with Victorian detail. Several of the homes have completely new interiors, modern classics brought back from total decay.

I asked for the inside scoop from one of the organizers. Here’s what I got:

“We’ve got an authentic Tiffany Studio window (St. Bartholomew’s Church), we’ve got a gorgeous 1923 synagogue turned church, we have a museum dedicated to the legacy of the founder of the West Indian Day Parade. We also have an outdoor art exhibit in the community garden with the works of Thomas Cadet, a Haitian American artist.

Home wise – we have 2 houses recreated from top to bottom. One sleek modern townhouse with Carrarra marble kitchen, slate tiled bathrooms, and modern chrome and steel furnishings and trim. Another a former mansion, former school, former derelict wreck, now a 3 family modern home with an open floor plan, exposed brick feature walls, great bath and kitchen.

We’ve also got a couple of period perfect homes with really great woodwork. 3 of the homes have huge garden plots of 80 to 100 feet, and most homes have wonderful tales of hard work, stripping woodwork, contractors from hell and a couple with long family ties to the properties.

We’ve got the homes of 2 doctors, a lawyer, a biggie in the NY Obama campaign office, a cop, 2 real estate brokers, an opera singer, a math and history prof, 2 contractors,an architect, and just folks. We got it all – a gay couple, people with really cute kids, white people and black people.

Can’t show specific houses until after the tour. Pictures are allowed on the tour, unless specifically prohibited.”

Hey, if you’re counting “just folks” that adds up to more than 10 houses! But I get the point. It’s a well rounded house tour.