The inaugural Samohi Architectural Home and Garden Tour will be held on Sunday May 6, 2012, with a behind-the-scenes look at some truly distinctive residences in Santa Monica.

The self-guided tour offers a rare opportunity for visitors to meet with homeowners, architects and landscape designers, and gain some perspective on unique designs for living and working.

The tour is a fundraising event for the award-winning Santa Monica High School Orchestras program. Four homes will be featured.

Breeze Home – With this home, conceived of as more sheltered landscape than traditional house, architect Glen Irani has woven a tapestry of views, light and a lofty canopy of “roof forms.” The one-story design enhances the integration of the landscape, capitalizing on natural light and creating an illusion of dancing rooflines. The gardens were made possible in part by a grant from the City of Santa Monica.

Painted Light Studio – Architect Jennifer Wen has met the challenge of designing a combined living and studio space that adheres to zoning limits. Drawing on the beauty of beachside tree-lined surroundings, planes and surfaces incorporating hyperbolic paraboloid walls are folded into a livable sculpture. Light and shadows paint the building, blurring the boundary of art and architecture. By day, the living space disappears into the sky. At night, the studio vanishes into the night sky, redefining the live-work boundary.

Green Serene – In this home, architect Warren W. Wagner blends a bright, open theme with green standards that include bamboo flooring, solar panels, passive solar hot-water roofline tanks, a heat-absorbing flooring design, high-efficiency appliances and low-flow fixtures. The garden is planted with drought-resistant species that reduce water consumption.

Artist’s Garden – Renowned painter and landscape designer Lace Bencivengo gives us “a perspective of the garden through the eyes of an artist.” The landscaping features a showcase Arbutus marina, succulents in unusual vessels, pomegranate and citrus trees, and an herb garden. Sustainable gardening concepts include an eclectic mix of natives and drought tolerant species, with drip irrigation and no grass or turf.

The tour begins at 11 a.m. and continues to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 6. Tickets can be pre-ordered for $30 (by 5 p.m. May 5) at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/239727. Same-day tickets are $40 (children younger than 12 are free). Will call to pick up pre-ordered tickets or buy same-day tickets will be at 705 San Vicente Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90402.
For more information, contact Steve Nemzer at 310-739-3907 or steve.nemzer@yahoo.com.

ABOUT SANTA MONICA HIGH ORCHESTRAS
Santa Monica High School, known as Samohi, has a long tradition of musical excellence. Approximately 800 students out of a total enrollment of 3,200 participate in the school’s music program, which includes six bands, six choral groups and six orchestras.
Several factors contribute to the strength of the music programs at Samohi, including strong elementary and middle school programs, a community supportive of the arts, dedicated parents, a district fine arts coordinator and enthusiastic administrative support.

Samohi’s orchestral offerings include Beginning/String Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra. All orchestras meet every day. The Samohi Symphony, named America’s top high school orchestra in 2005 by the American String Teachers Association, was founded in 1903, making the 2011-12 school year its 109th anniversary. Samohi Orchestras have performed in Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic and China. Closer to home, Samohi Orchestras have appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Disney Hall in Los Angeles. This year the Samohi Symphony traveled to Washington D.C. (see related story below).