The Wood River Valley has inspired architects and designers to create unique habitats, which not only reflect a homeowner's personality and style, but also embody the environs of Idaho mountain living.
Celebrating the beauty and design of the many superior dwellings in the valley is the Community Library's 28th annual Tour of Homes on Saturday, Aug. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The tour will showcase five Gimlet residences for a $75 ticket donation, which includes entry to a garden tea party from noon to 3 p.m. at the home of Bex and David Wilkinson. Bus transportation is included with the home tour, and patrons can chose to ride bikes, which is a time-honored tour tradition. There is absolutely no parking available in Gimlet, located south of Ketchum just east of state Highway 75.
This year, for the tour's special event, the Community Library welcomes Michela O'Connor Abrams and Michael Cannell for a private reception and cocktail party at the Gimlet home of Ursula and David Hinson. Ticket donations are $250 per person and space is limited. Abrams is the president and publisher of Dwell magazine and Cannell is the New York editor for Dwell.
"I am going to talk about some trends and people's attitudes about their homes," Cannell said. "One of the ways people are expressing themselves through their homes is in their landscaping. The old-fashioned idea of a home, garage and a lawn out front is starting to give way to a type of architecture and landscaping that is more organic and comes together in a different way."
Cannell said he will show a series of products that reflect a new way of thinking about overall design. One of Dwell's most appealing qualities as a cutting-edge magazine for home design and interior is its ability to feature ideas that are not just for privileged homeowners.
"We live in a time where design is for everyone," Cannell said. "We are making design decisions all the time."
The tour includes Gail Thornton's Gimlet house, which features two buildings designed to emulate Idaho's high desert landscape. Offering a different take on Idaho living, Allyn Stewart's Asian-influenced abode is more of a modern-day retreat hidden behind a fence and trees. The Hosie family's six-acre property is home to a traditional post-and-beam residence, which fits their active family lifestyle. Steve Holzman's house offers intimate seclusion in Gimlet boasting stone columns and large timbers. Finally, the remodeled home of Susan and Jerry Flynt reflects their Idaho interests with room for horses, trees and greenery.
All five Gimlet homes are vastly different in style and design, said Norma Douglas, chairwoman of the board of directors of the Community Library.
"We try to choose different houses in different styles," Douglas said. "There is a Frank Lloyd Wright wonder, an English country house, and we have another house that is a very personal artistic extravaganza. Two of the houses have remarkable art collections, and one house belongs to a Hollywood director, which has lots of Hollywood memorabilia. The garden tea is in a home previously belonging to Bruce Willis."
The tour picks a different neighborhood every year and has been quite successful at finding homes because valley residents want to support the Ketchum library.
"We are supported by people who live and work here," Douglas said. "Every donation that comes to us—either $1 or a large donation—it all matters to us because its another person who cares about the library."
Douglas said the homes on the tour may not be places we would all see ourselves living in, but they offer an opportunity to pick up ideas, especially for living in the valley.
"Sun Valley gets to show off," Douglas said. "It is an amazing community on so many levels, and all the proceeds got directly into the library's programming."
Tickets for the Tour of Homes are available at the Community Library, Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum and Iconoclast Books in Ketchum and Sun Valley, or by calling 726-3493.
Photos by Tim Brown--
The home of Gail Thornton features an entrance with ?Folder Circle,? a steel sculpture by San Francisco Bay Area artist Fletcher Benton.
