Homes for the Holidays is back! After several years as a virtual event, the popular tour of festively decorated Ottawa homes is returning as an in-person event from November 17 to 19 (10am to 4pm on all three days). There will also be a Homes for the Holidays pop-up shop on Friday and Saturday (see details below).
The fundraiser for Hospice Care Ottawa features six homes located in neighbourhoods across the city, from Rockcliffe Park to Manotick. Each has been stylishly decorated for Christmas by a different local florist, so you’ll find lots of inspiration for your own holiday preparations.
Aside from the holiday embellishments added for the tour, the homes themselves are also inspiring. I had the chance to visit two of them and meet their owners while writing a story about Homes for the Holidays, which appeared in the Ottawa Citizen‘s Homes section on Saturday, November 11.
The two spectacular homes are about a five-minute drive apart, but they are very different. One, on Piccadilly Avenue off Island Park Drive, is a 90-year-old structure that showcases homeowner Glenn McInnes’s spectacular collection of contemporary art.
The other is a brand-new home on Kenwood Avenue in Westboro that incorporates all the bells and whistles that homeowners Korey and Liam Kealey—both real estate agents—have admired in houses they’ve helped clients buy and sell.
The event is a huge undertaking for Hospice Care Ottawa. Preparations start in January, says tour co-chair Sharon Lalonde, with organizers brainstorming ideas for homes to include, contacting the homeowners and coordinating with community partners. Roughly 500 people volunteer with the event, she adds. Many of them have a personal, emotional connection to hospices—often because a friend or family member has received compassionate end-of-life care at a hospice—and they want to give back. The volunteers keep visitors moving through the houses, answer questions and help manage the pop-up shop.
Don’t miss the pop-up shop
Yes, there’s a shop! As well as drawing inspiration from the homes on the tour, you can also buy baked goods, clothing, home decor items, artwork and so much more at the Homes for the Holidays Pop-Up Shop, presented by Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Inc. You don’t even have to have tickets for the tour to check out this sale—it’s open to everyone.
The pop-up shop will be held at the St. Elias Banquet Centre near Mooney’s Bay (750 Ridgewood Avenue) on Friday, November 17 (10am to 6pm), and Saturday, November 18 (10am to 4pm). It will not run on Sunday, although the Homes for the Holidays tour itself will.
Why is the paragraph above in bold red type? Because, my friends, I have an embarrassing confession to make: I got the dates of the pop-up shop wrong in the Citizen story. They should be corrected online soon and a correction is slated for the print version of the paper. However, if you have last Saturday’s print version of the story in your hands, you have the wrong dates for the pop-up shop. And I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it, because it’s a great sale (and it also raises funds for Hospice Care Ottawa)!
Tickets for Homes for the Holidays
Tickets for Homes for the Holidays are $50 per person. Since the event is coming up soon, tickets aren’t available by mail anymore. You’ll need to buy your tickets online, then pick them up at either the May Court Hospice in Old Ottawa South (114 Cameron Street) or the Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice in Kanata (110 McCurdy Drive). Enjoy!
As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.