When homeowners Sue and George King first saw their two-story 1912 California Craftsman house on Pine Avenue seven years ago, the original solid woodwork was painted white and the 1950s' kitchen didn't have storage. The couple wasn't searching for a house to restore, just a comfortable one on a large lot, but they bought it anyway.

"We knew we would do the bathrooms and kitchen, and we had a desire to eventually take the wood back, because we both love natural wood," Sue says.

Professionals helped them restore the interior doors, beams and moldings and find copies of 1912 windows. The couple didn't want any walls moved, so it took nine months of planning and six months of work—lots of it by George—to remodel the kitchen with cherry-wood cabinets and granite counters. George designed the new master bathroom—a sleeping porch originally—after Sue chose its tumbled marble.

Their front porch has old-fashioned curb appeal. "When the breeze comes through the [porch] corner, even on the hottest day it's a very pleasant place to sit and read the paper and watch the world go by," Sue says.

The tour also has another Pine Avenue home, where Mario Alvarado and Scott Nickel live. The pair spent two years remodeling their 77-year-old 1,500-square-foot home while living elsewhere. They wound up with the Mediterranean-style home they both envisioned.

"When we bought it, it looked Tudor-ish," says Nickel, an interior designer. "Once we started getting into it, we started thinking, 'Let's go Spanish, kind of Old World, Tuscany, just kind of mix it.'"

Alvarado and Nickel removed the wall that connected the kitchen to a laundry room. The roomy new kitchen is now the warm hub of the home, with its cherry cabinets, pale peach walls, and a mix of terra cotta, gray and pale peach hues in the ceramic floor tiles. A tiled still-life scene on the backsplash beneath a large custom range hood adds to the European ambience.

Down the hall, a luxurious full bathroom continues the Old World theme, with its full Roman column and marble bath, vanity and floor tiles.

The original Tudor-style shake roof, which Alvarado and Nickel disliked, was replaced with 100-year-old Mexican tiles they purchased for only $500.

Unlike Alvarado and Nickel, Linda and Bob Shelby love Tudor elements, especially those in their Nevada Avenue home, built in 2002, which they discovered on the Internet about ten months ago. Bob says numerous outstanding architectural and interior design features of the two-story home astounded the couple, but the tropical backyard convince them to buy it.

Cement Roman columns, overhead Japanese lanterns, a fire pit and tropical plantings are part of a slate-covered patio that leads to a long, rectangular pool fed by mini waterfalls. Orange-blossomed kangaroo-paw plants and purple bougainvillea bloom alongside the pool, which has a pool house/exercise room at its far end.

A large, blue-and-gold, mirrored patio screen is set up to reflect the fire pit and the lights of the Japanese lanterns swaying in the breeze. "Especially at night, this place is absolutely phenomenal," Bob says.

Nearby, banana trees, passion fruit and kiwi vines, and super-sized angel's trumpet flowers compete for attention with a mini bamboo forest. Bob gardens nearly every day and says he plans to add a vegetable garden near the fruit trees at the back of the 300-foot-deep property.

While the Shelbys' Tudor was under construction, Paul and Salese Kanter were planning to build a two-car garage. One thing led to another, and they wound up also adding 300 square feet to their 1938 colonial home on Harmil Way.

It took nine months to build a new family room, a breakfast nook with a window wall, an expanded kitchen, a laundry room and the garage. In the meantime, the Kanters went out to eat nightly or went to friends' homes for dinner.

"We had no washer or dryer," Salese says. "Trust me, that was the worst."

Paul likes to cook, so he made certain the kitchen's center island range would face the big-screen TV in the adjacent family room. The cherry entertainment unit in this section of the home also matches the wood of the island, although many of the kitchen cabinets are white, an unusual pairing Salese liked after seeing it in a magazine.

Another unusual decision Salese made recently was to install a custom Murphy bed in the home office, which doubles as a guest room.

"My friends say, 'This is like the Winchester Mystery House—what are you doing next?'" Salese says.

Nancy and Steve Nazzal aren't planning to do much on their new home for a while. They were living in a 2,500-square-foot home they had built in downtown Willow Glen when Steve found a property for sale on Cabana Drive. Steve, a home builder, and Nancy, a real estate agent with a talent for interior design, bought it and built a 4,500-square-foot Tudor home with an in-ground pool. They moved in a year ago.

Their large gourmet kitchen includes granite countertops with a honed limestone brick backsplash. The light-tan cabinets were custom painted using a nine-step finishing process, while the walnut kitchen island received a specially chosen dark stain.

"We wanted the island to look like in the olden days, when they had islands look like pieces of furniture," Nancy says.

Ceilings soar from 9 to 12 feet, with an 18-foot peak in the family room adjacent to the kitchen. The 1,409-square-foot basement has 9-foot-high ceilings, along with a game room, workout room, guest suite and outside access.

The two-day Home Tour is the major annual fundraiser of the 88-year-old San Jose Day Nursery, which provides day care for more than 100 children, many from low-income families.

Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 1­2. Tours are self-guided.

Children under 12, cameras and camcorders are not permitted.

Tickets are $25 if purchased before May 1 at the following locations: San Jose Day Nursery, 33 N. Eighth St.; Casa Casa, 1355 Lincoln Ave.; Eclectic Touch, 1171 Lincoln Ave.; Fleurish, 1334 Lincoln Ave.; Be Civilized, 1345 The Alameda; and Terra Nova in the Pruneyard.

Tickets are $30 if purchased May 1­2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Willow Glen Elementary School parking lot at the corner of Minnesota and Lincoln avenues.

For further information, contact San Jose Day Nursery, 408.288.9667 or visit www.sjdn.org.