Welcome to the 12th annual AIA East Bay Home Tours. We continue our successful run of sharing our members’ work with the public in a personal way.
Home Tours is a unique opportunity to see architectural triumphs up close, and to meet the architects who made the projects come to life.
We would especially like to thank the homeowners for their generosity in opening their homes to us.
How Our Home Tours Work and What You Can Expect
- Once your Home has been identified as a potential candidate we will set up a time for a site tour. During this 1 hour visit we will walk through the parts of your home you will allow the public to tour. The purpose of this tour is to:
- Assess the logistics of your home in terms of distance, from other homes, parking etc.
- Ensure that there is a clear path that will allow up to 300 visitors to walk through your home between 10-4pm (last person enters at 3:45) on our tour day. This number will spread throughout the day, which normally means only 20-30 people per hour! We are mainly looking for potential bottlenecks and the possibility of a “through route”, such as entering through the front door and exiting elsewhere, as one-way traffic is the most desirable (though not required).
- What happens when my home gets selected? What is my role?
- As a ‘thank you’ for participating, we will offer you complimentary tickets to the tour as well as deliver lunch to you!
- Your home must be clean and uncluttered on the day of the event.
- You must be available to let our docents and site captains in when they arrive at 9:00 AM to set up
- This includes posting any signs on the streets to direct people
- Setting up the check in area
- Blocking any rooms or spaces you don’t want the public to see or enter.
- Setting up the “Booties” area as all visitors are required to wear clean room booties over their shoes upon entering.
- Work out any other logistics such as placing docent in certain rooms or locations as needed.
- What happens after the tour closes?
- Our staff will remove all signs or other items we bring to your home.
- You or your representative do not have to be present during the tour but someone needs to meet us no later than 4:20.
- Do a final walk through with our representative to make sure everything is as it was upon our arrival.
- What are you telling the public about my home?
- Your specific address is kept confidential until the day of the event and only ticket holders and staff will get it on the day of the tour.
- For promotional purposes well in advance of our event, we want all the design and architecture details made public including photos and other media. All materials must be approved by the homeowner as well as the architect prior to publication.
AIA carries insurance and each homeowner will be added as additionally insured on our policy.
EVERY TICKET HOLDER MUST FOLLOW THE BELOW GUIDELINES:
Not Permitted: (Anyone not adhering to the below will not be allowed to enter)
- Photography inside or on homeowner property
- Smoking, food or drinks
- Children under 12
- Pets
- High heels: booties are provided and must be worn over shoes or socks Please, no bare feet.
The Points Below are Requested:
- Do not touch furniture/surfaces, don’t open drawers/cabinets, etc.
- Please park with care: pay attention to not block driveways or double park, re-view parking signage regulations, etc.
- While enjoying the grounds, please stay on identified paths and do not cross lawns, damage or remove any landscaping, etc.
- Last entry into the homes is at 3:45pm, with the tour closing at 4:00pm, so plan accordingly.
Please Note: Restrooms in the Tour homes are NOT available for use for any reason.