| | Published May 12th 2021
| Lafayette Juniors tour focuses on life in your own backyard
| | | By Sora O'Doherty |  | | This Happy Valley home boasts spectacular views that can be enjoyed from the pool or hot tub, the sauna, or the heated loggia. Photos Sora O'Doherty |
Sparkling pools, outdoor kitchens, vegetable gardens and chicken coops were some of the elements shared by the homes on the Outdoor Living Tour hosted by the Lafayette Juniors on Saturday, May 1. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year the Juniors had to cancel their usual spring kitchen tour, and this year, for the sake of safety, the tour was limited in size and only to outdoors. Six homes in different areas of Lafayette and Saranap were featured on the tour.
The sold-out tour will benefit Youth Alive, a nonprofit that works with violently wounded people, helping them heal themselves and their community, and also Loaves and Fishes, whose mission is to provide community-based food programs.
The Outdoor Living Tour was designed to be a socially distant, self-guided tour showcasing unique and masterfully designed outdoor spaces at six beautiful Lafayette homes. Each ticket holder was also furnished with a Gourmet Nosh Box provided by local kitchen My Sustainable Table.
The tour included two homes in Burton Valley, on Crofton Court and North Lucille Lane, two in Reliez Valley on Ranch View Drive and Silver Dell Road, one in Happy Valley on Rahara Drive and one in Saranap on Freeman Road.
Enjoying the tour were Bob Epstein, his daughter Stacey Epstein and granddaughter Aliyah Henik, age 8. Mr. Epstein flies in from Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Juniors' tour each year. He first attended the Lafayette Junior's Kitchen Tour with his daughter about eight years ago. They enjoyed it so much, they decided to make it an annual event, although last year the tour was canceled owing to the pandemic. This year was the first time they were joined by Aliyah. Together they loved the "awesome backyards" they toured this year.
The tour brochure, which for the first time was available only online, included photos of each property as well as descriptions and highlights. A special section for each property listed the resources, such as general contractors, landscape architects or designers, pools, nurseries, patio, accessories, solar power generation and storage, greenhouses, chicken coops, turf and gravel, flooring, lightening, furniture, ADUs, saunas, fencing, and outdoor kitchen resources such as countertops and appliances. |
 | | Many of the existing features of this Saranap home needed sprucing up, including this rustic chicken coop. Photos Sora O'Doherty |  | | Residents and guests of this Saranap home can play bocce ball on this convenient court, while spectators relax in the adjacent swing. Photos Sora O'Doherty |  | | The residents of this Burton Valley home generate their own power and grow their own fruits and vegetables, using runoff water collected in an underground well. Photos Sora O'Doherty |  | | The owners of this Reliez Valley home wanted to have flexible spaces in the garden, such as this secluded bench on its own small terrace off the path that winds along the property. Photos Sora O'Doherty |  | | This Saranap home is perfect for outdoor entertaining, featuring a sports court, bocce ball court, a swimming pool, outdoor pizza oven, and even a renovated guest house. Photos Sora O'Doherty | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA