The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour 2019 will be on Sunday, January 27th.

UPDATE: Tickets for the tour later this month are selling briskly and am happy to report the merchants in the Downtown that have tickets available are seeing a big uptick in interest. One of those merchants is The Book Cellar bookstore at 801 Lake Ave. (at the southwest corner of ‘J’ and Lake) and tickets are also available online; learn more below.

From the number of tickets sold thus far, it’s looking more and more there will be no tickets available “at the door” on the day of the tour, so would encourage everyone who has an interest to pick up a ticket real soon.

And next week, on Friday, Jan. 11th at 7:00 you can come out and meet Yours Truly, Wes, at the Studio Café & Market at 515 Lake Ave. Was invited to come and talk about how The Cottages of Lake Worth came to be, this volunteer organization, the book, and answering any questions you may have. Look forward to seeing you there!


Without further ado. . .

About the upcoming Cottages of Lake Worth
Home Tour 2019.

This blog post is a tribute to former Palm Beach Post journalist Lona O’Connor who played a major role in The Cottages of Lake Worth story back in November 2013.

O’Connor, since retired, made a true and lasting impact on this City.

And later in this blog post, published in a recent Lake Worth Herald, is a feature article about the upcoming Cottages Home Tour.

It was the initial story by Lona O’Connor in the Post five years ago about a group of resident volunteers that set things in motion for The Cottages. . .

“Among the group’s plans are to set up a cottage website, a Facebook page, cottage driving tours, street signs directing people to cottages, maps and brochures with historical information and anecdotes and, with the permission of the owners, feature a few cottages in home tours.

“The photos could be incorporated into a coffee-table book, [Roger] Hendrix said.”

—Quote source: Lona O’Connor, Palm Beach Post, news datelined November 10th, 2013.

“The photos could be incorporated into a coffee-table book. . .”

Then three years later. . .

The hardcover book in 2016.
Then a second printing in 2017.

The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour 2019 is offering a combined tour/book ticket. Read more about that in The Lake Worth Herald below.

The feature story in the Herald:

The Cottages of Lake Worth Tour is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include 10+ cottages, along with appetizers, refreshments and trolleys. Attendees will visit the interiors and gardens of select Cottages in the Eden Place and Mango Groves areas of the City.*

Tickets are $30 in advance and, if available, $35 at the door. Combined book/tour tickets can be purchased in advance for $55 [emphasis added] and the book will be waiting at check-in on tour day.

Tickets can be purchased at:

• The Book Cellar bookstore, 801 Lake Ave. in downtown Lake Worth.
• Paws on the Avenue, 525 Lake Ave.
• Studio 205, 205 N. Federal Hwy.
• Online at www.cottagesoflakeworth.com and Eventbrite.

[To follow the Cottages of Lake Worth on Facebook use this link. The news in the Herald continues. . .]


In addition, the hardcover book The Cottages of Lake Worth – Living Large in Small Spaces, will be available for purchase at check-in [list price $USD32.95; tour/book combination ticket $55].

The January 2017 Tour sold-out in advance so don’t wait to purchase your tickets.

City of Lake Worth volunteers formed a Cottages of Lake Worth organization in 2013 to promote this unique housing with the goals of encouraging tourism and the improvement of the properties.

Cottages are predominantly smaller houses that may serve as guest, holiday, vacation, or primary residence. They can be of any number of architectural styles, but in Lake Worth styles include Mission Revival, Frame Vernacular, Masonry Vernacular, Bahamian, Craftsman, Art Moderne, Art Deco and Contemporary. They can be of either one or one and half story in a simple form and massing. Many of Lake Worth’s approximately 1,000 cottages are on 25′ lots, under 1,000 square feet and built prior to 1939 and others after World War II.

After Henry Flagler extended his rail line south from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896, a land development scheme was created for a town between the railroad and the lake. Purchasers of agricultural lots west of town received a 25′ wide lot within the City of Lake Worth, closer to the beach. Development slowed down then started again after World War II with many modest pensioners, especially from Quebec, Finland, and eventually Germany, moving to the city and building cottages.

The mission of the Cottages of Lake Worth is to educate the citizens and visitors of Palm Beach County through a variety of programs by celebrating and promoting the history of these unique structures and its people, assuring that this legacy is passed on to future generations.



Many of the cottages on this upcoming tour are featured in The Cottages of Lake Worth book. This City of Lake Worth is home to over 1,000 historic cottages, the largest concentration of historic cottages in Florida, and located within minutes of the spectacular Lake Worth Beach.

Of note: Sorry to say, but this tour is not apropos for children or pets.

This tour will feature the Eden Place and Mango Groves neighborhoods north of the Downtown.

Once again: Tickets are $30 and limited (if any remain available $35 at the door). The combined tour/book ticket is $55. Trolley transportation, food and refreshments will be provided.

The tour begins from The Beach Club bistro located at the City’s municipal golf course.

For those who wish to learn more about
The Cottages of Lake Worth.

Last September there was a tour of this City’s historic cottages taken by the Florida chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) from their annual conference in West Palm, the municipality to the north without a beach.

The tour taken by APA members included the Lake Worth Historical Museum, historic cottages south of the Downtown, and spending time with City officials including Mayor Pam Triolo and Lauren Bennett from the Dept. of Leisure Services. And of course Helen Greene at the Historical Museum.

Many planners on that tour were surprised to learn that West Palm ‘Beach’ does not have a beach!

In conclusion, debunking one of the biggest myths of all.

Our City of Lake Worth and the City of Delray Beach have had a friendly rivalry for a very long time. But that oft-used line about Lake Worth ‘becoming another Delray’ is a complete myth. It could never happen. And there are several reasons why which include geography, western annexation, population, and most significantly, where the exits off I-95 are located.

To learn more about what those reasons are click on this link and more about “comparing apples to oranges”.

Hope all this information inspires you to become part of The Cottages of Lake Worth Home Tour on January 27th.


And if you are interested in learning more about The Cottages, a video with more information. . .

From back in November 2014 is a YouTube video about The Cottages of Lake Worth. An interview of Your’s Truly with radio host Allan Mason at WBZT:






*The Mango Groves and Eden Place neighborhoods are two of the fourteen-member Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents’ Council (NAPC). To see where these two neighborhoods are located click on this link for interactive GIS map.

“Our Neighborhoods have Boundaries. Our Commitment to Each Other Does Not” is the motto of the NAPC and they encourage everyone to learn more about the volunteer association that serves your neighborhood.

To learn more about the Mango Groves neighborhood, their goals and photos of “Merry Merry from Mango Mango!” click on this link.

For more details about the Eden Place neighborhood use this link.