One of the houses on the upcoming Best Friends’ Holiday Home Tour on December 5 is a spacious, modern-designed house perched high above Sunset Cliffs in San Diego with a startling panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean.
“Comfortable yet modern,” is how Cordelia Mendoza, co-coordinator of the tour, describes this home, which is one of five eclectic examples on this year’s self-guided tour, all to benefit the animals.
For a $25 ticket (or $30 on the day of the event), you can tour, inside and out, some of Point Loma’s handpicked coastal homes, each with exquisite holiday décor provided by homeowners, with volunteer interior decorators assisting them. All proceeds benefit Best Friends’ First Home Forever Home campaign, which focuses on helping people keep pets in their homes.
Other houses on the tour include a California coastal cottage with a wrap-around porch and surrounding gardens; an English Tudor home built in the early 1920s with an informal picturesque style that’s uniquely charming; and a 1927 colonial-style house that’s been impeccably restored to its original beauty. “The tour is in one of San Diego’s most historical and charming residential areas,” Mendoza points out.
Besides the tour, there’s a raffle as well as a silent auction that feature items — with values upwards of $3,000 — donated from some of the finest artisans and businesses in San Diego. Also featured is a free-admission marketplace at the first home on the tour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with fine art, interior décor and accessories, crafts, garden statuary and plant stands, handmade Christmas ornaments, homemade gingerbread cookies and miscellaneous holiday gift shopping. Each of the 22 vendors is donating an item for the silent auction.
One of the vendors, Christie Repasy, a world-renowned California artist, will have original floral paintings at the marketplace. Jewelry made from salvaged vintage pieces, as well as hand-styled clothing, will also be available from vendors.
Organizers are still in need of volunteers, sponsors and silent auction donations. Plus, ads placed in the program are still available for as low as $50.
“Sponsorship of our Holiday Home Tour is a wonderful opportunity for businesses to show their support for pets and the families who love them so much by helping to keep those families together,” says Aileen Walden, Best Friends’ senior manager of stewardship and donor relations.
Also, an adoptable dog from the local Helen Woodward Animal Center will be at each home.
“This fun and exciting event will bring out a broad audience of people who love animals, love homes and home decorating, and holiday shoppers looking for unique gifts. It’s a great pool of people to expose to our generous sponsors’ products and services,” Walden says.
An added benefit is the campaign’s extension of its Four Legged Food Drive into San Diego in conjunction with the Holiday Home Tour. Bring any size or brand of unopened, unexpired dog and cat food, especially canned food (Whiskas, Friskies or Pedigree brands). Helen Woodward Animal Center’s AniMeals food bank program will give the food to needy local families with pets. Donate food, and you'll be eligible to enter a drawing for a special prize.
“We want to give back to the local community,” says Ellen Gilmore, campaign specialist for First Home Forever Home.
So, make Saturday, December 5, a festive day for you and your friends
by attending the annual Point Loma Holiday Home Tour. The tour provides an excellent opportunity to create ideas for redecorating or building your own home.
“All of us involved in the upcoming Holiday Home Tour are excited, because it benefits pets,” Mendoza says. “Mark your calendar so you won't miss this wonderful event.”
To buy tickets, now on sale, and get more information, go to www.bfhometour.org.
To volunteer, contact Cordelia Mendoza.
To sponsor, donate or place an ad, contact Aileen Walden.
Photos of Houses courtesy of Cordelia Mendoza
Photo of cat by Clay Myers, Best Friends photographer.