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Beverly Home Tour Will Showcase 5 Homes And A Church Sunday

 Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton, of Beverly, have transformed their basement into a hookah lounge. The pair claim the centerpiece has never been lit. That said, the lounge also features furniture and artifacts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Korea and more.
Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton, of Beverly, have transformed their basement into a hookah lounge. The pair claim the centerpiece has never been lit. That said, the lounge also features furniture and artifacts from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Korea and more.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

BEVERLY — The Beverly Hills/Morgan Park Home Tour will showcase five area homes and one church from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets cost $35 for the tour organized by the Beverly Area Planning Association. The event begins at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity at 9300 S. Pleasant Ave. in North Beverly.

Each stop offers an interactive experience including cooking demonstrations, new car displays, expert decorating tips, elaborate artwork and more.

Among the highlights is a "science" house that will showcase the steamer trunk and monogrammed bed sheets of Enrico Fermi. The "architect of the nuclear age" brought the items with him when he fled Italy in 1938.

The items will be displayed in the home of fellow scientists Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton. The pair build particle accelerators and advanced lasers throughout the world.

 The basement bathroom in the home of Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton is marked with a blue door from India. Inside the bathroom, the imported Biaszza tile is also imported.
The basement bathroom in the home of Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton is marked with a blue door from India. Inside the bathroom, the imported Biaszza tile is also imported.
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Tim Coughlin Photographer

They work at Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab while living in Chicago and also serve as professors at Colorado State University. They have a second home near Fort Collins, Colo.

Their bright yellow house here overlooks Ridge Park near 96th Street and Longwood Drive. Interesting items can be found on every wall and shelf and all come with a story on how they were collected — most often while one of the two residents was working abroad.

In the dining room alone, there's a handmade boomerang that Biedron said came while "doing science" in Australia. The Peruvian blow dart gun came from a similar junket in South America. Then there's the Portmeirion Pottery on display that's designed with detailed, scientific drawings of various plants and flowers.

In every room, the owner's eclectic collection of interesting novelties stand out. For some, the chair from original Comiskey Park will be a highlight. For others it might be the toy airplane made by a World War I soldier from spent shell casings.

The architectural features of the house are jaw-dropping as well. The basement hookah lounge is a particularly quirky feature, though the owners claim to have never lit the centerpiece. That said, the room is filled with furniture and other items from Turkey, Morocco, Korea, Saudi Arabia and more.

"I hate putting drywall in a place that might get wet," Biedron said of the lounge that is instead decorated with colorful linens, rugs and floor pillows.

Also in the basement is a bathroom that's marked by a powder blue door that hails from India. The bathroom itself is also blue and decorated with imported Bisazza tile. Even the adjacent washer and dryer are blue to carry the blue theme.

The kitchen was inspired by Biedron and Milton's frequent visits to Italy. Indeed, Biedron is particularly proud of her efforts to bring three laboratories throughout the country together, which many natives thought could not be done.

 Portmeirion Pottery can be found throughout the Beverly home of Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton. The pottery from North Wales features artwork inspired by horticulture books.
Portmeirion Pottery can be found throughout the Beverly home of Sandra Biedron and Stephen Milton. The pottery from North Wales features artwork inspired by horticulture books.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

The kitchen in this Dutch Colonial home is highlighted by a red Bertazzoni stove as well as a refrigerator that is made to look like an old wooden ice box. The kitchen is also decorated with some of the 65 paintings Milton bought for $35 at an estate sale while living in Switzerland.

"When we have visitors from Europe, they feel right at home," Milton said.

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