Sponsors: The Hampton Roads Garden Club and The Huntington Garden Club

Tickets: $28; single-site, $8; ages 6-12, half-price

Info: (757) 596-1371; www.VAGardenweek.org

Lunches: Boxed, $8; 11:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m.; The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center, 4205 Victoria Boulevard, Hampton, 23669. Reservations by April 18.

Info: (757) 727-1490 or Artscom@Hampton.gov

Hampton, situated on the southeastern tip of the Virginia peninsula, is said to be the oldest continuously settled English community in the United States. As a Native American village called Kecoughtan, it had been visited by the first English colonists before they sailed up the James River to settle in Jamestown. Today, major industries are NASA and high-tech firms, seafood processing, military and tourism.

Tour highlights:

3743 Chesapeake Ave. (April and Robert Kochan, owners), was originally built in 1948 and renovated in 2004 to give it a "Carolina Low Country" appearance.

The interior is furnished with antiques and the kitchen is designed for entertaining. Several porches provide panoramic views of Hampton Roads and the marshes of Church Creek.

2308 Chesapeake Ave. (Anne and Mike McHenry, owners), a Georgian Revival built in 1949 with two formal entrances, is furnished with 18th-century antiques collected from Europe.

The living room fireplace is German marble and the library fireplace is built of "apple rock" stone from Charlottesville. The renovated kitchen has cherry cabinets and dark granite countertops.

The interior of 1615 Chesapeake Ave. (Barry Menser, owner), a cottage-style house built in 1958 and renovated eight years ago, mixes British Colonial, Asian, post-modern, contemporary and French styles, featuring decorative pieces, china and furniture collected by the homeowner. A gated rose arbor leads to the yard.

1500 Chesapeake Ave. garden only, (Dorothy Rouse-Bottom, owner), has garden rooms surrounding the home, with an oval lawn on the street side hedged by hollies, roses, dogwoods and a Gingko tree.

An octagonal dock pays homage to an old steamboat wharf, and a sunken garden features an English fountain and goldfish pond.

24 Osprey (Dorothy Rouse-Bottom, owner), a Craftsman house built in the 1920s, has undergone an extensive renovation, with a two-story addition completed in 2007.

An octagonal observatory has scenic views of Robinson Creek and Hampton Roads in the fall and winter. Décor includes old family pieces paired with newer furnishings.

1400 Chesapeake Ave. (Regina and Max Buzard, owners), a Spanish Mission Revival house, was built from designs featured at the 1935 World's Fair in San Diego.

A complete renovation started in 1999 has kept to the original design. Family-heirloom antiques, artwork and art deco pieces are displayed throughout the interior.

*See examples of art deco a decorative and architectural style of the period 1925-1940, characterized by geometric designs, bold colors and the use of plastic and glass at 1400 Chesapeake Ave.