Balboa Island Holiday Home Walking Tour returns for 24th year
When Irma Grime saw her home featured on the cover of the Balboa Island newsletter, “Island Bridge,” she was thrilled. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Grime, whose home will be included in the annual Balboa Island Holiday Home Walking Tour Sunday, Dec. 11. “I was [also] delighted that our [dog] Wolfie was in the picture.”
The 24th annual tour, returning after a two-year pause due to pandemic restrictions, is the Balboa Island Improvement Assn.’s top fundraiser of the year.
Gail Vasterling, a Balboa Island resident since 1987 who has been involved in the home tour since 2009, is head of the publicity this year. ”The money we bring in helps support all our other island activities,” said Vasterling. “The pancake breakfast, summer concerts in the park, the parade, snow day, island decorations, just a few of the many things the home tour money helps support.”
Vasterling explained, that the committee selection process for each year’s tour begins in January. “We actually knock on people’s doors to see if the homeowner is interested in being on the tour,” said Vasterling.
The eight holiday decorated homes on the tour this year are a combination of old and new. “One home is 99 years old and is still in very good shape,” said Vasterling.
Irma and Greg Grime, both retired, are the proud owners of the 99-year-old home featured in the tour this year. They purchased the 1923 five-bedroom Balboa Island beach house on Sapphire Avenue in 1989. The house, once known by locals as the “flower house,” sat on a lot consisting of sand, which didn’t deter the Grimes from making the purchase. “When I saw it, I fell in love with the light,” said Irma Grime.
Rather than tear down the two-story redwood house, the Grimes updated the structure and preserved the cottage charm so typical of Balboa Island. A year after moving in they added a garage with a rental apartment above. They relaid the sand-set patio bricks in concrete, updated the bathrooms, remodeled the kitchen flooring, cabinets and appliances. They kept the original doors, molding and many of the vintage wavy-quality windows.
Instead of full-sized closets, the house had funky little 4-foot tall closets that Grime referred to as “stoop-ins.”
“Three weeks after buying the home, I thought it was a terrible mistake,” said Grime. “My forehead was bruised and bumped from getting into the “stoop-in” closets. Our contractor found a way to add a walk-in closet for the master bedroom; I knew then this is my forever home.”
The Grimes have updated and loved their so-called tear-down over the last 33 years.
Despite experiencing the pressure of putting her home on display for the tour, Grime wanted to support the Balboa Island Improvement Assn. ”I believe it’s the least we can do to express appreciation and gratefulness for living here,” said Grime.
Tickets for the Balboa Island Holiday Home Walking tour are $40. The event takes place Sunday, Dec. 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Visit balboaislandnb.org for more information.
Susan Hoffmann is a contributor to Times Community News.
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