Evento

2013 Holiday House Tour

December 7, 2013 - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
(Inclement Weather Date: Sunday, December 8th)

The Annual Open House Tour gives participants an exclusive tour through many private local homes and historic buildings decorated for the holiday season. The 51st Annual Open House Tour will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The Half Moon Inn (Court Inn) will feature open hearth cooking, colonial music and re-enactors of the colonial period. Refreshments of mulled cider and cheese will be served throughout the day. Tickets are $25 and will be sold the day of the tour at the Half Moon Inn (Court Inn) and at the Stocking Works. Parking is available at the Stocking Works. Advance ticket sales are available online and at the Newtown Book & Record Exchange. Rest room facilities are located at the Half Moon Inn (Court Inn) and the Newtown Borough Council Chambers. No photos or high-heeled shoes allowed in the houses. For information, call the Association at (215) 968-4004.

The original Open House tour was sponsored by the Newtown Civic and Historic Association and was called "Christmas in Colonial Newtown." It was held on Saturday December 14, 1963 from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and the price per person was only $1.50. Seven distinctive homes in Newtown were featured including, the Homestead (1800) at 127 South Sycamore Street; a colonial residence (1740) on South State Street; the Quintin House (1801) at 149 North State Street; the Bird in Hand (1690) at 111 South State Street; the Georgian House (1830) at 111 Court Street; the Schofield House (1837) at 113 Court Street; and a Victorian house (1860) at 219 Washington Avenue. Other buildings included on the tour were the Newtown Presbyterian Church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church and Christmas Alley of the Hanging Lamp on North State Street. A carol and candlelight parade in costume was featured on Friday night starting at Washington and Chancellor Streets and street caroling on Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. at the Bird in Hand. It was noted in the program that the Newtown Civic and Historic Association desired to acquire a historic building and if necessary restore it as a headquarters. The monies derived from the celebration of "Christmas in Colonial Newtown" were to be used toward this goal.