Spring Valley Farm: Old homes are excellent story keepers and this farm, once known as Bluebound Farm, has many stories to tell. This 46-acre property was once the home of George Webster and his wife Dottie. The late George Webster was the well-known and beloved master of Tryon Hounds.

The farm was eventually sold and the 1830s farmhouse of 750 sq. ft. was transformed with the help of Mill Creek post and beam designers.

Today, the 2,750 sq. ft. structure with 24-foot ceilings and humble materials such as wood, wrought iron and stone lends this home a patina that makes it perfect for hosting gatherings of family and friends.

The homeowner shows her penchant for mixing and matching by contrasting rich rustic surfaces with refined furnishings and antiques.

Inspired by the earthy hues of nature, the home’s color palette of sage green in the bedroom and den and rusty red in the living room, dining room and kitchen sets a soothing backdrop for artwork while plush leather furnishings in the living room and den lend a cozy, inviting ambiance.

The classically beautiful master suite is a new addition as well as the huge master bath with jacuzzi and chandelier.

There are three bedrooms and five bathrooms. The powder room wall features a mural done by a local artist depicting horses grazing and a pony pulling a carriage and driver in open fields surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Another bath features wallpaper in a toile hunt scene.

The gardens surrounding the home were originally designed as an English garden and play off the dramatic background of farmland. A koi pond, which is fed by a stone three-tiered waterfall, can be heard from a covered porch off the kitchen. Other features of the garden are a grape arbor, several 300-year-old trees, a vegetable garden and the scent of a Tea Olive tree.

The original charms of the barns remain with a total of 20 stalls and the addition of an elegantly furnished guest apartment.

Jacksons Grove Church: In circa 1830, a carpenter named Mr. George Washington Wilkie from Catawba County, N.C., built the pretty white frame structure that became Jacksons Grove Church.

The church was built of selected timbers from the area and erected by craftsmen. The frame is built from heavy hand-hewn timbers and the walls are wide hand planed boards. The alter, alter rails and the pulpit are made of walnut. The windows and doors are put together with pegs.

The pews are made of wide selected boards and hand planed.

The building’s two-door design was common in the 1800s in the Smokies and elsewhere. Generally, a two front door design allowed men to enter and sit on one side of the chapel and women and children on the other.

Many of the church buildings in the Carolinas are impressive because of their simplicity and purity of design and continue to serve as important reminders of the religious and social history and the aesthetic values of people in rural communities across the south.

The balanced design of the little Methodist church tends to a feeling of peace and harmony in its Foothills setting.

The Tour of Homes, presented as a fundraiser by the Green Blades Garden Club, is a self-guided driving tour held on Saturday, April 30. Hours of the tour are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the Book Shelf, Vines & Stuff and Down to Earth Garden Center in Tryon, Accents on Main, PJ’s Fashions and Expressions Florist in Landrum and the Garden Patch and Flower Cottage in Columbus.

On the day of the tour, tickets will be sold at each of the homes as well as the Park on Trade. While this is a self-guided tour, shuttle buses will be available at the Red Fox Country Club parking lot. Parking will be available at all homes, except the Woodlands, and the Jackson Grove Church. To tour the Woodlands you must board a bus at the Red Fox parking lot. Return shuttle busses will bring you back from the Woodlands. Buses will be also available for the other homes if desired

In conjunction with the 41st Green Blades Home Tour, The Tryon Fine Arts Center, in cooperation with the Polk County Extension Center and the Town of Tryon, will sponsor the second annual Art and Garden Bazaar on April 30 on McCown Street in Tryon. The street will be closed and over 20 vendors will set up a variety of art, garden items and locally grown plants for sale. Hours will be 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and tickets for the home tour will also be on sale at the Bazaar.

Go to tryonarts.org or greenbladesgardenclub.org to find information on the bazaar and home tour.

For more information on the home tour, call Helen Gilbert at 828-894-2491.