Not far from the farm is a decently sized lake. One day each year, various residents on the lake open their homes for tours. I missed last year’s, but I knew I wanted to go this year, so Saturday morning I slathered on my sunscreen, grabbed my camera and headed out.

The tour is run by volunteers and funds raised support the lake’s restoration. People from all over the lake take part, shuttling visitors from house to house on pontoon boats.

At each stop, more volunteers greeted and directed us, including these two pint-sized safety-conscious tour guides.

I was very impressed by how the whole community came together for this event. A few of the houses even had artists set up outside painting.

The houses we toured ranged from rustic cottages…

To slightly grander new builds.

Many of the homes were quite personal and had some unique features. Like a sink made out of petrified wood.

A screened porch with a built-in barbecue, vent hood, tap, flat screen TV, stainless steel counters, stamped concrete floor and large wood-topped bar.

Unusual light fixtures.

Built-ins constructed by the homeowner from reclaimed wood.

A hammered sink from Mexico set in an antique dresser.

I wish I had a better picture of this vanity, because the dresser was amazing. In fact the whole bathroom was pretty unique with murals painted on the wall and the tub clad in wood that matched the dresser. Unfortunately, I couldn’t zoom out enough to get the whole room, and I thought climbing into the shower to get a wider angle might be too a bit to invasive.

While I don’t think a petrified wood sink is totally my style, the tour did give me a couple of inspiring ideas for our place. I think pretty much everyone on the tour was inspired by this closet.

On a slightly simpler scale, I love this twig and branch archway. I think something like this would be great at one end of the vegetable garden.

Seeing some unique homes, supporting my local community and floating around a calm lake on a bright sunny morning. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

What did you do with your weekend? Anyone else get away to the lake? Have you ever gone on a home tour? Or have you had your home featured in a home tour? Who wants a wooden sink?