Discover Manchester’s homes and gardens
Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhoods are filled with 19thcentury houses, some with small urban gardens. Manchester has some small ones, plus a few that rival anything you’d find in a suburb. For a peek, check out the Manchester House + Garden Tour on Aug. 9.
From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., a halfdozen houses and/or gardens will be open for the tour benefitting the Manchester Historic Society. One belongs to Tsambiko Capperis, the only person ever to win both the PG Renovation Inspiration and PG Great Gardens contests. Recently, he won another title, WTAE-TV’s “Best Backyard in the ‘Burgh.”
His garden, which features a koi pond and more than 100 varieties of roses, gained a 15-by-10-foot vegetable garden this year. Sited in a sunny spot behind the garage, it contains 10 varieties of tomatoes, corn, eggplant, peppers, spaghetti squash, basil and other herbs.
“I never really did a vegetable garden before,” he said. “If I do something wrong, I’ll learn for next year.”
Here are a few other highlights of the tour:
• Historic Anderson Manor built by Col. James Anderson in 1830. Anderson opened his personal library to boys from Pittsburgh, including Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired to build free libraries, too.
• A restored 1883 mansion that features hand-painted walls and ceilings discovered when the new owners were removing a mailbox in the foyer.
• A sustainable garden designed as a teaching tool and universally