A walk down a stately avenue of...

A walk down a stately avenue of palms, a summer treat of lemonade and eclairs, a barbershop quartet, and a peek into the rooms and gardens of a historical mansion are part of the leisurely agenda today during the 41st annual Home Tour in Altadena.

This year’s tour spotlights 12 homes along Mendocino Lane between Allen Avenue and Altadena Drive.

“A lot of people are very curious to peek in other people’s homes,” said Nancy White, publicity chairwoman for the event’s sponsor, the Altadena Guild of Huntington Memorial Hospital.

That curiosity raises between $30,000 and $40,000 annually for the hospital’s medical research institute, White said. But unlike other home tours where entire houses are gutted and redone by leading interior designers, the Altadena tour focuses on homes as they exist and are used in daily life.

“You can’t expect the glamour,” White said. “They’re normal homes.”

Or very nearly normal.

The tour begins at the George Balian mansion, a 5,800-square-foot Italian Mediterranean homebuilt in 1923. The residence is noted for its spectacular decorations during the Christmas season.

Also included are tours of a pueblo-style home designed by noted architect Myron Hunt, a Queen Anne Victorian relocated from Pasadena, two California ranch-style houses and a Cape Cod “cottage” with a 3,500-square-foot addition.

Free refreshments and musical entertainment will be provided and homemade baked goods and gifts will be sold, as in years past.

An added feature this year is a display of more than 20 antique and classic cars: a 1907 Thomas Flyer, a 1909 Stanley Steamer, a 1912 Cadillac, and Chevrolets and Fords from the 1920s through the 1960s.

The home tour is open to adults and children over 12. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the cost is $17.50 per person.

Free public parking and shuttle buses are available at Washington Boulevard and Altadena Drive and at the Webster Elementary School in the 2100 Block of Washington Boulevard.