The many inventive and beautiful homes in the Mad River Valley are a nod to the creative, resourceful, and ecological sensibilities of the community. Yestermorrow’s 9^th Annual Innovative Homes of the Mad River Valley House Tour, taking place Saturday, August 27, provides a rare opportunity to sneak a peek inside five hidden gems, each brand new to the tour.

Previous Tour Location: Archie Bunker (exterior) - Dave Sellers

Innovation can take on many forms in the realm of home design, including creative design features, unusual materials choices, unique building processes, progressive renewable energy technologies or energy efficiency strategies, and ecological-minded site design. This year’s itinerary includes homes with a staggering variety of innovative aspects.

Tour participants will explore an almost completed, eighteen year-long work-in-progress timberframe home, the owner of which has lovingly crafted and sourced structural and aesthetic details that will inspire even the most jaded viewer. Another home on the tour, a contemporary masterpiece, burned to the ground just a few years after it was built, and was lovingly rebuilt from the ashes with only minor alterations.

The tour will include two homes in the shape of barns. The first actually was a barn, built in the 1800’s, disassembled from it’s original location 100 years later, and rebuilt at it’s current site as a luxurious home. For the other, the structure of the building is new, but almost every material choice and architectural detail -- from the exterior barn board, to the interior flooring, to the playful mud-room cubbies -- was salvaged and rescued from a variety of locations around the state.

The final home on the tour is a model of gracious self-sufficiency and independence. This inspiring hillside farmhouse was designed and built by the owners, who also continue to provide for much of their own needs with large vegetable gardens, chickens, and a sheep-farming/breeding business. The house is also completely off the electrical grid!

Previous Tour Location: Archie Bunker (interior) - Dave Sellers

At each stop on the tour, participants will be met either by the owner or designer of the home who will talk about the concepts that drove the design, and the unique and innovative choices that were made. Seats on the tour bus are limited and going fast, so reserve now by calling 496-5545. This full-day event runs from 9:30am to 4:30pm. The $50 ticket includes lunch. All proceeds from the tour support Yestermorrow Design/Build School’s scholarship fund.