Sea Cliff Landmarks Association House Tour back for first time in 5 years
Seashells, sea glass and splashes of aquamarine envelop Leslie Guerci's home like a wave meeting the shore. The aesthetic comes together in her hilly backyard garden, which overlooks the ships and ripples of Hempstead Bay.
On May 19 from 12 to 4 p.m., Long Islanders can see Guerci's home and five others for themselves, on the Sea Cliff Landmarks Association House Tour. The event is back for the first time since 2019 — it'll include a range of homes in the area, from historical Victorians to renovated Capes.
"The architecture in Sea Cliff is very eclectic," said Guerci, whose own house is only two years old and features an arts-and-crafts style exterior. She is an interior designer and chair of the Sea Cliff Landmarks Association House Tour Committee. "We try to include different styles of architecture because it's more interesting for people going on the tour."
The event raises money annually for the Landmarks Association. Various organizations have hosted house tours in Sea Cliff for 40 years, starting with the Salvation Army in 1984, Guerci said.
The tour is self-guided now — the Landmarks Association gives out brochures with a map and information about each house.
Leslie Guerci, chair of the tour's committee, will include her arts-and-crafts-style home. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
We're going to try and take people on some of the secret pathways in Sea Cliff while they're walking the tour.
— Leslie Guerci
"You can walk the tour, which a lot of people do, or you can drive," Guerci said.
Although just six houses are featured on the tour, there is much more to explore throughout the village that day, Guerci said. Sea Cliff, which is one square mile and started as a Methodist church campground in 1871, has at least 22 houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Sea Cliff has some of the most Victorian homes in Nassau County," she said. "If people are interested in seeing a list of houses on the National Register or landmarks, we can provide a list at the ticket table, and people could do a self-guided tour."
Leslie Guerci's home, built two years ago, overlooks Hempstead Bay. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Guerci has also led an effort to add visibility to the public spaces of Sea Cliff. When she first moved here in 1999, the pathways were unmarked, and "many people had no idea that these pathways they'd see were public property," she said. These walking paths often include flights of stairs connecting streets to green spaces and waterfront views.
"We're going to try and take people on some of the secret pathways in Sea Cliff while they're walking the tour," Guerci added.
Few original details exist in Lisa Brinberg's Victorian, but she incorporated stained glass that was discovered in the home's basement. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
It's boring when everything is the same. There are some amazing houses [in Sea Cliff] that are so beautiful.
— Lisa Brinberg
Lisa Brinberg is opening up her house to the public for the first time on this year's tour. She lives in a late-1800s Victorian, which she renovated for a year before moving in.
"A lot of the original pieces of this house were removed," she said. "I believe during the Depression, they split this single-family home up into three apartments, so we have a lot of doors. When we moved into the house, there were three more doors."
The upstairs flooring and bannister are some of the only original details that remain. The house is accentuated by Brinberg's colorful collection of stained glass, some of which she discovered in the basement when she moved in, and brought out to display throughout the house.
The small-town vibe of the community and friendly residents are what brought Brinberg here — the beautiful architecture throughout her neighborhood is a bonus.
"It's boring when everything is the same," she said. "There are some amazing houses that are so beautiful. Like everywhere else, there are nicer houses and less nice houses, but they're all really special in their own way. And I love the community. I'm a huge advocate of being here."
The tour starts at the Sea Cliff Children's Library,281 Sea Cliff Ave. Tickets will be sold there the day of the tour, or can be purchased in advance on TicketLeap or at most of the real estate offices along Sea Cliff Avenue. They cost $40 in person, or $40 with additional fees online.
Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.
