However, do bear in mind when approaching them that different groups have different rules and costs, so make sure you are clear on what these are before you join up. Alternatively, if you are reading this during the Festival, ask any open house owner when you visit their home. They’ll be happy to help.

So, why do we advise joining a trail? It is simply the best way to ensure you get the maximum number of visitors to your home. People still tend to walk the trails, either with our maps or the AOH brochure (more of which later). Last year, I was exhibiting in an independent house right in the middle of the Fiveways trail. It became a frustrating inevitability watching people walk straight past our house while staring at a map of the Fiveways trail.

Fiveways is a good example of the differences between trails. If your house is in their catchment area and you want to join them for the first year, you can’t. You are required to open your house independently and be inspected by a senior member of the group before they decide whether to invite you to join them – or not.

‘How dare they!’ you cry?

Well, don’t cry too loudly. Fiveways is the grand-daddy of them all, the most established trail in Brighton. To suggest that a trail – and not just Fiveways - shouldn’t operate quality control for houses entering it is unfair. They all have a reputation to maintain and if maintaining it means ensuring that the quality of art exhibited in its houses is kept at a consistently high level, then surely that is better for the Open House visitor, in the end? Discuss…