Home Front
By JUDY STARK, Times Homes Editor
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 1, 2003
Briefs and news of note
Tour the former Sheffield manor
[Times photo: Bill Serne]
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The former home of Atlanta Braves outfielder Gary Sheffield is on today’s tour.
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From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, visit nine homes, from Pinellas Point to Bay Pines in south Pinellas, on St. Petersburg Catholic High School's fourth annual Tour of Homes. Tickets, $15, are available at Artistic Flowers, 3247 Fourth St. N and 3525 49th St. N; Jene's Tropicals, 6831 Central Ave.; Gulf Coast Garden Center, 4355 Haines Road; and Diamonds Direct, 5085 34th St. S, all in St. Petersburg, and at Georgette's Old Hyde Park Village, 1619 W Snow Circle in Tampa.
Home show is big on ideas
What's billed as "Florida's Largest Spring Home Show" is at the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Friday through March 9. Besides hundreds of vendors of building materials and decorating, landscaping, remodeling and home improvement services, you can view a swimming pool outfitted with the newest safety devices and alarms, or see wireless home-security technology. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and March 8; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 9. Tickets: adults, $7; seniors (55 and older), $6; children younger than 12, free with adult. The State Fairgrounds is at 4800 U.S. Highway 301 in Tampa. Call (813) 621-7821 or visit www.floridastatefair.com.
A new range of options
Whirlpool
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The March Consumer Reports rates electric and gas ranges, singling out the smooth-top electric Frigidaire FEF366A and the gas Hotpoint RGB745WEA as CR Best Buys. The magazine also evaluated the new Whirlpool Polara, the range that includes a cooling element to keep food chilled until a preset time, when it starts to cook. It ranked last among the electric smooth-top ranges the magazine tested, but is "still very good overall," CR said. It worked as promised in the magazine's tests. Since it's so new on the market (it's starting to come into area appliance stores now), there's no record for reliability. The oven is small, and baking performance was ranked as just good, not very good or excellent. "But for many singles or two-career households, the convenience of timed cooking and built-in cooling may outweigh most other shortcomings."
-- Compiled by Homes editor JUDY STARK
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