Home Front

COTTAGE TOUR . . . Five charming Palo Alto cottages will be showcased in the eighth annual house tour sponsored by the Palo Alto Area Mills College Club on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. The houses will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at 1850 Middlefield Road. Proceeds from the tour will benefit Mills College students.

ARCHITECTURE WEEK . . . The week of April 20 to 26 is devoted to celebrating the profession of architecture and helping the public become more aware of the wide range of roles in which architects engage throughout the building process. The celebration includes a week-long series of free walking tours departing from City Hall Plaza each day at noon (except Tuesday). There will also be a children's tour and a twilight tour. On the first floor of City Hall there will also be a display of professional work by the tour leaders as well as student designs. For more information, call 326-8787, Ext. 11.

DREAM HOME . . . In honor of Sunset Magazine's centennial anniversary, Sunset's Western Dream House will open to visitors April 25. It's a two-story, 4,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style residence that makes the most of the mild Western climate with a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living. The interior of the home expresses a fresh, contemporary flair, the overall effect being airy, open, natural and harmonious. Tickets are $7, $6 for seniors and Safeway Club Card holders. Ticket sales benefit Children's Health Council. For more information, call 1-800-786-7375.

HISTORIC HOUSES . . . The Stanford Historical Society will sponsor a sidewalk tour of 12 campus houses on Sunday, April 26. The tour will begin and end with the two oldest existing faculty residences, the Griffin-Drell house (1892) and the Dunn-Bacon house (1899). Participants may begin the tour anytime between 2 and 3 p.m. at the Law School parking lot facing Alvarado Row. An illustrated booklet describing the houses and their histories will be available for $10. For more information, call 725-3332.

COLLEGE TERRACE TOUR . . . Explore one garden with a maze; two others are especially suited for kids, one equipped with a model railroad track and the other with a farm; still other gardens showcase more traditional roses on a tour of ten College Terrace gardens on Sunday, April 26 from noon to 3 p.m. Tickets are $7 per person, $14 for families, and ticket sales benefit the Escondido School Landscape for Learning program. Tickets are available at the Reading Garden at Escondido School on the day of the tour. For more information, call Brian Carilli evenings at 424-9176 or by e-mail at hey.you@stanford.edu.

GARDEN TOUR . . . Six elegant Palo Alto gardens will be showcased in the annual Spring Garden Tour on May 1 and 2, sponsored by the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Center. Running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the tour begins at the Gamble Garden Center at 1431 Waverley St. in Palo Alto. Tickets are $20 in advance and $23 at the door. All proceeds benefit the Garden Center, a non-profit urban horticultural foundation. Call 329-1356.

Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m.

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