Our Town: Sacred Ground

The stately homes of Augusta Street are a sight to behold, even from the sidewalk. But anyone who’s ever admired this impressive district from afar can mark their calendars, because six of the backyards, side allées, and sprawling gardens of Augusta Street will be open for sightseers.

The Kilgore-Lewis House Garden Tour takes place April 16–17. In addition to garden tours, several of the featured homes will host various vendors, including artists, authors, landscape architects, and birdhouse crafters, who will make their wares available to patrons.

The annual tour raises money to benefit downtown’s Kilgore-Lewis House, helping to pay for maintenance on the North Academy Street home, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Last year’s garden tour took place on Paris Mountain.) The event is the single largest fundraiser of the year benefiting the Kilgore-Lewis home.

If you can’t make the full garden tour, take time instead to stop by the Kilgore-Lewis House (circa 1836–1838) itself between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, when the facility and its grounds are open to the public. Visits are free, but you can still make a donation to benefit upkeep of the Palladian-style structure—one of the original gracious homes deemed historic in Greenville, and one of the few remaining from its era.

Kilgore-Lewis House Benefit Garden Tour
10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 16-17
The Historic Homes of Augusta Street
$15 in advance; $18 during the tour; tickets are available at local shops, garden clubs, and at the Kilgore-Lewis House. Call (864) 232-3020.

Photographs by Creative Photography and Wayne Culipepper, Fisheye Studios