By Special to the Town Crier

The “Fabulous Fall Kitchen Tour,” a benefit for Palo Alto’s Avenidas Senior Center is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. The tour highlights five innovative kitchen remodels in Palo Alto.

Work on the first kitchen, the “Greenhouse,” was completed in 2000. Natural and environmentally sustainable materials were used in this effort to transform the traditional kitchen area into the living room.

Another new kitchen is in a California bungalow owned by a family that needed more space. The owners needed ample space but wanted to maintain the original layout and style of the home.

An English manor, built in the 1920s, was renovated to preserve the look and feel of the original home. Since the existing walls were 14 inches thick, a new wing had to be built. For the owners, a young family, the most important requirement of the addition was that the children would be able to participate in food preparation and that the kitchen provide a safe environment.

A 76-year-old English Tudor had to be renovated to meet the increasing needs of the owners’ growing family. The kitchen remains in the same location as in the old house, but is now three times larger. A good flow to the “heart” of the home was an important design element to the owners.

The renowned Santa Barbara architect George Washington Smith designed the classic Mediterranean home featured on the tour. In 1974 the owners renovated the kitchen, adding highlights such as a butcher-block top, a fireplace and three stained glass windows on the south side of the room.

Tickets for the tour are $25. For more information, call 326-5362 or 322-1000.