Luxury Home Tour

Want to gawk at the latest in luxury home features, from designer kitchens to massive wine cellars? This year's Midwest Home Luxury Home Tour will feature 17 homes, the largest since 2008. All homes on the tour are valued at more than $1 million, and are located throughout the Twin Cities. The tour opens Friday and runs for three weekends, through June 23. Tour hours are 1-7 p.m. Fridays and noon-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Passports for all 17 homes are $20 in advance, at Caribou Coffee shops, and $25 at the homes. Single-home tickets, $5, also are available at each home. For more information, visit www.luxuryhometour.net.

History strolls

Preserve Minneapolis, a nonprofit dedicated to improving city life via revitalization, has announced this season's lineup for its popular walking and biking tours of the city's historic places and neighborhoods.

This summer, Preserve Minneapolis will offer 27 tours that range from the seedy (flophouses, bars and red-light districts) to the saintly ("Church Week"), led by guides who tell the human stories that make city history come to life.

Most tours are $8 per person, and tours fill up quickly; participants are asked to pre-register online, at www.preserveminneapolis.org/wpfile/tours/.

Log homes on tour

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Real Log Homes in Minnesota, two log homes will be opened for free tours. One home, in Cannon Falls, Minn., can be seen by appointment during the month of June. Another log home, in Outing, Minn., will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. For details, visit www.realloghomes.com.

Wright’s Heurtley House in Oak Park, Ill., is featured on a tour in August.

Free garden seminars

Looking to enhance your landscape? Gertens is offering a free Spring Perennial Festival June 8-9, with workshops held every hour from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Visitors will learn how to install and maintain a perennial garden and a rain garden, how to attract butterflies and bees, and how to grow berries and other fruit. Gertens is located at 5500 Blaine Av., Inver Grove Heights.

Antique show

On the lookout for vintage garden accessories or a piece of original art? You'll find plenty to browse at the Antiques and Decorative Arts Show next weekend. About 45 dealers, selected by the Minnesota Antiques Dealers Association for their quality and affordable prices, will be in attendance. Show hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. June 8 and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. June 9. Admission is $6, valid for both days, and a discount coupon, for $1 off, is available online at www.mnantiquesdealers.com. The show will be held on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, in the Fine Arts Building.

Wright getaways

Fans of Frank Lloyd Wright can choose from several architectural excursions this summer. Travel Wright, operated by the nonprofit Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, is offering "Town and Country: Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and Wisconsin," an Aug. 15-19 tour exploring Wright's early work. The tour begins in Chicago with visits to several sites, including the Heurtley House, the Frederick C. Robie House and Wright's home and studio.

In Wisconsin, an entire day will be devoted to Taliesen, the home Wright built for himself in 1911 and rebuilt twice after fires. Other stops include an early Usonian house and a chapel.

The excursion includes luxury accommodations, six meals, all admission fees and motorcoach transportation, including dropoff at O'Hare International Airport. The cost, airfare not included, is $2,195, with a $200 discount for registering by June 15. For more information, visit www.travelwright.org.

If you're planning a trip to Chicago and want to include a Wright-focused outing, Travel Wright also offers the Wright Around Chicago Bus Tour, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Wednesdays, June 12-Aug. 28. Cost is $150. To book a tour, call 1-312-994-4000. Or buy a Wright Around Chicago Universal Ticket, an all-in-one-ticket to four of Chicago's best-known Wright sites, for $35, at www.gowright.org.

KIM PALMER