House & Garden Tour - July 11, 2024
What a fantastic and gorgeous day! Thank you to everyone who showed up, despite the rain!
The House & Garden Tour is the BTG’s primary fundraiser. Each season the BTG offers more than 100 free events including lectures and guided nature walks and other programs in support of our mission to educate and advocate for the environment. The BTG is a 501C3 charity, independent from Chautauqua Institution. Thank you for your support.
Missed the tour? No worries! Here's a slideshow of highlights, all photographed by the amazing Jeanne Wiebenga.
Click to expand
by Jeanne Wiebenga
by Jeanne Wiebenga
by Jeanne Wiebenga
by Jeanne Wiebenga
Tour Notes
Parking is available in the Main Lot across the street from the Main Gate. There is a $12 fee for parking in the Main Lot. Shuttle buses run through the Main Lot.
If you’re coming from off the grounds, the House and Garden Tour ticket provides you access to Chautauqua Institution on July 11, 2024 from 8:00AM-8:00PM. You must present your ticket for entry and exit from Chautauqua Institution.
The House and Garden Tour ticket will also provide you access to the Amphitheater for the 9:15am Morning Worship Service and the 10:45am Morning Lecture with Bethany McLean
Clear Bag Policy. Be prepared! When entering the Amphitheater and other venues, Chautauqua requires clear bags for bags larger than 4.5” x 6.5”.
The BTG House and Garden Tour is a walking tour. While there are shuttles and trams moving throughout the Chautauqua grounds, be prepared to walk. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, bring a hat, sunscreen, umbrella, and a water bottle.
Water stops are available at several locations over the tour route.
Stop by the BTG Hospitality table in Miller Park for a rest...sit, relax, have a glass of water and a cookie!
Additional information is included in the back of the Ticket Booklet.
Get excited for our 2024 House & Garden Tour - please scroll through to take a peek at some of the kitchens ~ the heart of the home, as well as some highlights from previous years.
To help plan your day, here is a suggested schedule:
7:00 am - 12:30pm: Check in at the BTG Welcome Table inside the Pedestrian Tunnel at the Main Gate. Here you can pick up tickets being held at Will Call and a map.
9:30 am: Join us for a lecture by Betsy Burgeson, Supervisor of Gardens and Landscapes at Smith Wilkes Hall, the home of the BTG.
9:30 - 10:30 am: Pick up your pre-ordered commemorative plate on the patio behind Smith Wilkes Hall.
10:45 am: Attend the morning lecture in the Chautauqua Amphitheater. Check chq.org for details.
12:00 - 5:00 pm: Home interiors open to ticket holders for docent-led tours.
Each home is unique in its history, decor, and style.
Master Gardeners and garden docents will be stationed at the 7 gardens on tour from 12-5 pm as well.
Pick up your pre-ordered commemorative plate on the patio behind Smith Wilkes Hall.
Complimentary water and Swedish cookies as well as plates for purchase will be available in Miller Park throughout the afternoon.
5:00 - 8:00 pm: Attend any of the Chautauqua programming or wander the grounds and enjoy dinner.
Tickets purchased before May 22nd were mailed by first class postage on June 5th to the address you provided.
Please email us if you have not received it yet.
If you ordered your ticket after May 22nd, and if you are at Chautauqua prior to July 11,
you may pick up your tickets on these days:
1. During the BTG Brown Bag Lectures at Smith Wilkes Hall
from 12:00pm-1:00pm
on Tuesday June 25, Tuesday July 2, or Tuesday July 9
OR
2. During the Sunday Activity Fairs in Bestor Plaza
from 12:00pm-2:00pm
on Sunday June 23, Sunday June 30, or Sunday July 7
OR
3. At the BTG Welcome Table at the Main Gate
on July 11, 2024
from 7:00am - 12:30pm.
Thank you for supporting the BTG!
Please enjoy some highlights from our 2022 tour below!
On July 14, 2022, the BTG welcomed tour patrons to the long-awaited biennial House & Garden Tour, postponed twice due to the pandemic. A total of 12 Chautauqua homes were open for the tour - each home unique in style, decor, and history - including the Miller Edison Cottage and current President’s Cottage. Fabulous gardens were on display across the tour route, each with a member of the Chautauqua Master County program out of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The day also included an Opera Invasion and refreshment tents and Swedish cookies in Miller Park. Mother Nature contributed with a 74-degree day, a cool breeze, and plenty of sunshine. Landscape Preservation Architect Bob Jeffrey started the week with a talk about architecture at Chautauqua, previewing each home and offering commentary. Thank you to all the volunteers, homeowners, and Institution Staff for their generous support. Our landscape and garden teams had every garden glowing.
The bucolic setting and picturesque gardens at Chautauqua Institution are managed by Betsy Burgeson, Supervisor of Landscapes & Garden. Her team has been preparing for this tour for years! Betsy Burgeson started the Tour Day by presenting a lecture about the Ellen Biddle Shipman garden at the Miller Edison Cottage. The crews were applauded with vigor by all the tour patrons in the audience for their hard work and accomplishment. Prior to Tour Day, no detail was overlooked. The crew harvested flowers created into bouquets for homeowners, delivered by BTG President Leslie Renjilian. Our partners, Chautauqua County Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension volunteered as docents at green spaces along the tour route. Purchase a packet of note cards - each arrangement comprised of the flowers from a particular garden! You can still pick up a map of the Institution's gardens at the Main Gate, Visitor Center, or this website on the Gardens tab. Even better - take a stroll throughout the grounds by accessing BTG’s FREE tour app: ExploreCHQ.stqry.App