Real estate shoppers in the know have long appreciated the historic Park Hill section of Yonkers for its urban charm, great housing stock and relatively low taxes compared to similar properties in Bronxville, Larchmont or New Rochelle. Mix in old-fashioned neighborliness, walkability and a majestic canopy of century-old trees and you have the makings of a really great place to live.

The graceful, winding streets of Park Hill sit on big slabs of forested rock about 300 feet above the rest of southwest Yonkers, with great views of the Hudson and the cliffs of the Palisades on the other side of the river. Name an architectural style of housing from the first half of the 20th century and you’ll surely find it in Park Hill: Colonial, Arts and Crafts, Victorian, Tudor, Georgian, Foursquare.

The diverse and somewhat arty neighborhood has also won acclaim for its fun, smart and interesting house tours, which used to be held every year, then every two, now every three.

On Sunday, May 31, the Park Hill Residents’ Association will hold its 13th house tour of architecturally distinguished homes.

(Photos by our Mark Vergari; exteriors from Jane McAfee)

The self-guided tour runs from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will feature five houses, including a fully restored 6,000-square-foot 1911 Colonial, a 1905 English cottage and a 1913 English Arts and Crafts.

An Asian-themed all-white garden with ponds and a waterfall will also be included.

Advance tickets cost $20 or $25 at the door. All proceeds go to the Yonkers Land Conservancy, which works to plant native trees and preserve open spaces in the city.

Along with the open houses, the daylong event will feature a walking tour of the neighborhood with city planner Mario Caruso at noon, a Grand Old Tree Tour with a certified arborist at 3:30 and a slide show/lecture on turn-of-the-century Yonkers by Barrymore Scherer, author and Wall Street Journal critic, at 1 and 2:30. Throughout the day, the Host Area will have a raffle, food from local restaurants and tours of the Park Hill Racquet Club.

One of the most interesting homes on the tour is a sweet little 1920 bungalow owned and refurbished by John Close.

“The house is very unassuming from the street,” says Jane McAfee, who has been helping to organize the Park Hill tours for years. “But wait till you go inside — John is unbelievably talented.”

This is his third house in Park Hill.

“We have such a great mix of neighbors here,” Close says. “It’s like a big college dorm except we don’t get drunk every night — well, not quite.”

“We do have lots of parties,” McAfee agrees, with a laugh. “This is a very social neighborhood. We share a love of old houses, these big money pits.”

“We really have a city mentality,” she says. “We have lots of people here who have moved up from the city.”

Close has lived in this 2,200-square-foot, five-bedroom house since 2000, when he bought it from an elderly woman with a penchant for orange shag carpeting. Once he peeled back the awful carpeting, he found gorgeous oak parquet floors in most of the first floor, a perfect match for the oak staircase and recessed oak paneling that lines the walls of the jewel-like dining room. The house also boasts dentil molding, beam ceilings, an ornate fireplace, period ceiling fixtures and window seats.

Except for the large bedroom that holds Close’s home office on the second floor, most of the rooms are fairly small.

Close has painted them with rich, vibrant colors to enhance their appeal: deep plum, burgundy, teal, sunset yellow.

The circular staircase down to the finished basement is a little daunting, but what fun to see what Close has done with this tight space. He painted the floors black (just like the living room ceiling) and the rubblestone foundation walls white and lighted them with spotlight accents from the floor. Mind the overhead pipes on your way back upstairs.

Be sure to see the twin terraces that make up his “back yard.” For such an urban setting, he enjoys an amazing amount of privacy back here.

“Everybody is on different levels in Park Hill,” McAfee says. “You’re not looking into your neighbors’ houses.”

Earlier this month, the beginnings of an outdoor pergola — with ornate white columns — were being laid out on one of the terraces. The columns are actually made of fiberglass, leftovers from a New York City Opera production. (The set decorator is a good friend and neighbor.)

As part of the tour, Deane Prouty will open his spacious 3,500-square-foot house, a 1923 Colonial with a new copper roof that replaces copper shingles that were left over from Yankee Stadium when it was built in 1923. He installed the new roof, one of a handful in the county, after a windstorm tore holes in the original shingles.

Prouty, a Broadway percussionist, has a wonderful collection of antique novelty musical instruments scattered through many of the first-floor rooms.

Some of them are really loud — and he says he will be happy to play them and demonstrate how they work for tourgoers.

If you go…
All of the tours on May 31 begin at the Host Area at the Park Hill Racquet Club at the corner of Lakeside Drive and Van Cortlandt Park Avenue. Participants will get a tour program and map and the houses will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For advance tickets, call Jane McAfee at 914-423-1835.