Sponsors: The Virginia Beach Garden Club, The Princess Anne Garden Club

Tickets: $25; single-site, $10

Info: (757) 481-1465; www.VAGardenweek.org

Lunches: Buffet, $15; 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; The Princess Anne Country Club, 3800 Pacific Ave.

Capt. John Smith and his band of explorers landed at Cape Henry in spring 1607 at the northern tip of what is now Virginia Beach.

Its history as a resort town began in 1880 when a clubhouse was built on the beach. The boardwalk and the Cavalier Hotel were built in the late 1920s. With the annexation of Princess Anne County, Virginia Beach is the state's largest city.

Tour highlights:

4800 Ocean Front (Betsy Watkins Short, owner) is a beach house built in 1955 whose yard is full of flowering shrubs, trees and bulbs. It is decorated inside with corals, shells, seahorses and sea creatures.

Furnishings include antiques, paintings and items gathered from around Virginia, and the sunroom has a seaside view.

108 54th St., (Mr. and Mrs. James P. Belk, owners), a yellow brick beach cottage built in 1958, features a variety of art objects from the Philippines, Haiti and France.

The owners' collection of duck decoys dating from 1940 to 1970 are on display in the guest suite, converted from a garage. The house is surrounded by perennial gardens.

109 54th St., (Mrs. Douglas W. Davis, owner), was built in 1936 and retains the beach feeling even with subsequent updating, which includes a renovated kitchen and reconnecting the first and second floors to convert two apartments back to an original single-family residence. The bar area was once a tiny step-down porch.

Much of the east side of the cottage at 6508 Ocean Front (Mr. and Mrs. Clifford A. Cutchins IV, owners) is the original structure, showcasing beamed ceilings and an east-facing summer porch. Renovations include a new kitchen. A private balcony off the master bedroom offers views of the ocean, dunes, grasses and garden plantings.

The garden at 108 69th St. (Mr. and Mrs. William T. Campbell, owners) features summer beach roses, Russian sage, boxwood and daisies. The backyard has huge oaks, a waterfall and pond, raised-deck walkways, stone walls and arbors and groupings of shade-loving plants.

215 87th St. (Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Murdock, owners) is a cottage built in 1948 with renovations kept in the style of the 1920s. The remodeled kitchen features "Rainforest" green marble from Brazil, and there are assorted art collections throughout the house.

311 48th St. (Dr. Melissa Lexier and Mr. Hobie Whitmore, owners) was built in 1938, with additions that include a dining room and fireplace. The remodeled kitchen has maple cabinets, black granite countertops and hanging copper pots. Artwork includes scenes from Barbados and the French countryside.

310 45th St. (Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Burwell, owners) is a three-story traditional house built in 1955 that recently has been rescued and restored. Much of the original woodwork has been reclaimed. A deck was redesigned into a master bedroom with an exposed brick chimney. The gardens include an outdoor kitchen.

The Cavalier on the Hill, 4201 Atlantic Ave., (courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Dixon) built in 1927, was designed to cater to affluent guests in the 1920s and 1930s. The hotel is registered in the National Trust for Historic Preservation of Historic Hotels of America.

* At 215 87th St., the house's rear wall was designed to look like the bow of a ship.