Downtown Historic Home & Garden Tour hosted by Old Town Cape

Cape Girardeau - A Downtown Historic Home and Garden Tour will take place Saturday, May 8 from Noon to 4 p.m. Five homes and two gardens will be showcased during the tour that was organized by Old Town Cape. The owners of each home and garden will give a guided tour through their spaces, highlighting special features and historic facts.

The tour was organized as a fun way to promote downtown living. Downtown residential growth is an important factor in making downtown a vibrant, active district. Because of this, increasing the residential population in downtown is one of the tasks outlined in the Downtown Strategic Plan that was adopted by the City of Cape Girardeau and its partners last July.

Lisa Bertrand, Old Town Cape volunteer and event organizer, started work on the event after experiencing the same in other communities when living in Texas. "After our first historic home tour, we became committed to downtown living." Lisa says they wouldn't live any other place. Her family home at 306 Independence is one of five homes on the tour.

"I love living downtown because this is where all the action is," comments homeowner Laurie Everett, "We can sit on our front lawn and watch the parades go by, walk across the street for a cup of coffee and walk to downtown for nightlife. There is no place as exciting in Cape Girardeau."

Everett, also the owner of Annie Laurie's Antiques, lives above her business with her family. Her home at 536 Broadway is on the tour.

The other homes are located at 222 Bellevue (The Sachen/Schwepker Home), 25 N. Fountain (The Becking Home) and 129 S. Lorimier (The Scherrman Home). The gardens are located at; 241 N. Fountain (The Stroder Garden), and 220 N. Lorimier (The Mocherman Garden).

Tickets for the tour are $15.00 in advance and are available at Old Town Cape, Annie Laurie's Antiques, and Spanish Street Mercantile. The day of the tours, tickets will be sold in front of the Betrand and Everett homes and will cost $20.00.

Old Town Cape planned the event the weekend of Mother's Day to present a viable gift idea for families. For more information please visit www.oldtowncape.org or www.facebook.com/oldtowncape.

Old Town Cape is a nationally accredited Main Street Program that works to build a downtown community that cherishes its past and is an economically viable district in which the citizens of Cape Girardeau can live, work and play.