Category: Holiday House Tour

Das Swartzenreader Haus
314 Courtfield Avenue
Beth Reader and Chuck Swartz

Originally an ordinary two-story house built in 1968, this home has been transformed by the husband and wife architectural team Reader & Swartz Architects. Although the house had an excellent corner location with an amazing view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, there was virtually no way to appreciate it due to the boxy, conventional floor plan and the minimal number of small windows.

While ultra-modern at first glance, the skeleton of the old house can still be seen in the new design. The outline of the old gable roof on the main block can be seen in the line of the new clerestory windows. Existing studs on the gable ends were retained and stripped to support the new library shelves, accessed on one side by a rolling ladder salvaged from an old telephone building, and on the other by an alternating tread staircase. The three-story, inverted shed-roof addition is made of glass, exposed structural steel, and cedar. The dramatic design created an open, light-filled loft space, which takes advantage of the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east.

Das Swartzenreader Haus will be open for the Saturday evening Candlelight Tours 6-9 p.m., and the Sunday Daylight Tours from 1-5 p.m. On-street parking in this neighborhood is limited; please be mindful of residents’ driveways while parking for the tour.

Please take a moment to thank the Holiday House Tour Advertising Sponsor Eugene B. Smith Gallery for supporting PHW and local preservation!

The Bell House
106 North Cameron Street
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation

Open Sunday, December 4, between 1-5 p.m.

The handsome Federal-style residence known as Linden Hill was built in 1809 by John Bell, a successful Winchester merchant. The property remained in the Bell family until just a few weeks ago, when it was purchased by the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. The home is still filled with a number of the Bell family furnishings and collections which have been passed down for generations.

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation works to preserve the hallowed ground of the Valley’s Civil War battlefields, to share its Civil War story with the nation, and to encourage tourism and travel to the Valley’s Civil War sites. The Foundation plans to use the Bell House as part of their interpretation of the civilian life during the Civil War and to share this special building at events like Holiday House Tour.

The Foundation has graciously opened their doors to Holiday House Tour visitors this year on Sunday, December 4, between 1-5 p.m. only.

Please take a moment to thank the Holiday House Tour Advertising Sponsor Winchester Little Theatre for supporting PHW and local preservation!

George Washington’s Office Museum
32 West Cork Street
Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society

Open Saturday, December 3, between 3-9 p.m.

George Washington used the middle room of this little house as a military office from September 1755 to December 1756 while Fort Loudoun was being constructed. It was subsequently owned and treasured by the Adam Kurtz family from 1778 to 1908. The City of Winchester acquired it at that time, recognizing its historical significance. Today, the building is a museum operated by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.

The current exhibit is entitled “George Washington and the West.” This display includes some of Washington’s personal effects, surveying equipment and a scale model of the town of Winchester circa 1755 which shows Fort Loudoun prominently located at the north end of the town.

The Historical Society has graciously opened their doors to Holiday House Tour visitors this year on Saturday, December 3, between 3-9 p.m. only.

Please take a moment to thank the Holiday House Tour Advertising Sponsor Summit Community Bank for supporting PHW and local preservation!

Holiday House Tour Tickets will be available for purchase by November 15 at the following Winchester locations:

• Kimberly’s, 135 North Braddock Street
• Wilkins’ Shoe Center, 7 South Loudoun Street
• Winchester Book Gallery, 185 North Loudoun Street
• Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center, 1400 South Pleasant Valley Road

You may also purchase House Tour Tickets through the mail using the form on page 6 of PHW’s newsletter to mail in a check, or through the PayPal buttons below. Tickets will be mailed to you if bought before Nov. 28. After that date, print your PayPal receipt or have the email on your smartphone to show your proof of purchase.

Please take a moment to thank the Holiday House Tour Advertising Sponsor Bruce, Renner & Company, PLC for supporting PHW and local preservation!

Are you swamped with plastic shopping bags? PHW is in need of some “gently used” plastic shopping bags for our Holiday House Tour’s Bough and Dough Shop. Both standard size plastic grocery bags as well as the oversize plastic bags are needed. By reusing shopping bags, we help keep our House Tour expenses low so more funds can go back into our preservation projects – in addition to getting a little more life out of existing plastic bags before they get sent on the recycling center.

If you can spare some plastic shopping bags between now and December 2, please bring them to the PHW office at 530 Amherst St., Winchester, VA. If you cannot stop by during our office hours, there is enough space between our back door and storm door to drop off some bags safely.

It is a small request, but it will make a huge impact on our Holiday House Tour preparations behind the scenes. Thank you!

It’s that time again! PHW is at work on lining up sponsors for our 2016 Holiday House Tour. For many of us this event officially begins the holiday season with its guided tours of the festively decorated historic properties in Winchester. In addition to being a fun community tradition, the Holiday House Tour generates the monetary foundation that enables us to continue our mission to preserve the best of the area’s past.

As part of our promotional materials for the event, PHW will be producing a full color program booklet again this year. I invite you to place an ad in the booklet to show your support for PHW and to promote your business to a demographic interested in Old Town Winchester, its history, and its architecture. Ads are available in full page (5″x8″), half page (5″x4″), and business card (2″x3.5″) sizes. Enlarging the image shows the sizes, costs, and benefits of the sponsors’ ads in the program.

Please reserve your spot soon – ads are due by 5 PM on October 28 to ensure inclusion in the program booklet, which will be distributed in mid-November to ticket sale locations and local visitor centers around Winchester. Include your business name, contact information, and ad size in your reservation. Your print-ready digital ad files may be emailed to phwinc.org@gmail.com or submitted on CD or flash drive at the PHW Office, 530 Amherst Street, Winchester, VA 22601. If you have questions, do not hesitate to email us or call us at 540-667-3577.

Thank you for your support, and we hope to see you at our 40th Holiday House Tour this December 3 and 4!