Month: July 2020

The polls are open! Cast your vote for 1979’s “Christmas Morning Long Ago” or 2003’s “At Home for Christmas” this week! Voting is open to anyone. If you need a refresher on the two tours before making your choice, visit last week’s blog for more information. The poll will be open until Wednesday, August 5, and results will be posted in the August 7 blog post. Have fun, share the poll and don’t forget to leave comments or replies on the social media channel of your choice that might persuade voters to your favorite tour.

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Week two will see an interesting head to head match between Clifford Street and Amherst Street. There were two tours subtitled “Aglow for the Holidays.” Our voting option, however, is the 2009 tour of Clifford Street. Competing against it is the 2000 tour “Amble Along Amherst,” which coincidentally was the other location of an Aglow for the Holidays tour. Which street shone more brightly for the Holiday House Tour? You decide! To refresh your memory, here are the competitors:

Aglow for the Holidays focused on the West Clifford Street neighborhood. Situated on a gentle hill, the homes were predominantly Colonial Revival with Queen Anne stylistic details overlooking the Old Hospital site. The tour was graced with a gentle snowfall overnight, imparting extra beauty and holiday charm to the Sunday afternoon tours. Images of the tour can be seen in the Flickr Album.

309 South Stewart Street – George and Margie Sheppard

This Colonial Revival style home of brown brick combines traditional detailing and decorative woodwork. A paneled front door flanked by elliptical tracery transom and sidelights welcomed guests to a warm and friendly environment. A center gabled dormer flanked by round arch dormers lends more whimsy to the facade while parapet chimneys with semi-circular attic windows anchor the gable ends.

309 West Clifford Street – Richard and Melanie Lewis

The charm of this c. 1910 house comes from the diversity of its late Queen Anne style and early 20th century building technology. The clapboard-covered facade with shaped shingles is punctuated by a two-story semi-circular bay topped with a turned finial and an upper story wing-tip gable dormer. A variety of windows typical of Victorian homes, including a small colored glass pane window, light the interior and decorate the facade.

403 West Clifford Street – Bob and Lynne Caldwell

This home is locally known as the Nancy Larrick house. It was constructed in 1926 by Nancy Larrick’s parents. Behind a limestone wall the brick Colonial Revival style house exhibits a strong symmetrical facade with an eaves front roof supported by a dentil cornice. Its front Doric columned porch leads to a center hall door with small pane transom and sidelights which is flanked by large tripartite windows. A sample of Nancy Larrick’s writing on children’s literature is available at Goucher’s website.

415 West Clifford Street – John and Elizabeth Quinn

The symmetry and order of the Colonial Revival style combined with the textural variety of the Queen Anne style has influenced the creation of this early 20th century house. A wrought iron fence welcomes visitors to the first-story front porch supported by Doric columns. A paneled door surrounded by a fanlight transom and decorative shaped sidelights opens to the center hallway.

419 West Clifford Street – Gregory and Steffany Plotts

Ascending halfway up the gentle hill of Clifford Street is this Colonial Revival style house of brick and stucco. The front porch, with fluted Doric columns and a low railing with turned balustrade, enhances the symmetrical facade with a dentil cornice and center paneled doorway flanked with sidelights. The house was formerly the parsonage for the Market Street Church.

124 West Boscawen Street – Frances Barton Event Center

Originally known as the Thomas Phillips house, this brick home has graced Boscawen Street for two hundred years. The house retains its delicate Federal-style woodwork with six panel doors, bullseye surrounds, five Winchester mantels, and front hallway fanlight. The Event Center was the site of the Preview Party on Saturday night, as well as the Bough and Dough Shop on Sunday. House tours of the upper levels were also offered on Sunday. Musicians from the Symphony of the Valley performed both Saturday evening and Sunday for party-goers and shoppers.

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Amble Along Amherst presented a rare opportunity to tour some of Winchester’s finest homes along this scenic street festively bedecked for the holidays. Amherst Street was named by Winchester’s founder, Colonel James Wood, in 1758 as part of an addition to the town he established in 1744. The street is named for Lord Jeffrey Amherst, who commanded the British expeditionary forces against the French during the French & Indian War. Images from the tour, including extravagant arrangements in the homes, can be seen in the Flicker Album.

514 Amherst Street – Selma

The first Selma was a stone house built in 1813 for Judge Dabney Carr. George Mason’s grandson, James M. Mason, bought the property in 1829. Mason, a U.S. Senator, authored the controversial Fugitive Slave Law. Union troops destroyed his home when they arrived in Winchester in 1862. A new Selma was built in the grand Second Empire style by Judge Edmond Pendleton in 1872. The interior is richly detailed with architectural features and fine carvings. Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Dick purchased Selma in 1953 to provide a spacious home for themselves and their seven young children. A fire damaged the house before they took occupancy. Charles and Lucille Dick restored the house and made it a comfortable home for themselves, their children and many friends. The decorations were typical of a Dick family Christmas including the children’s tree in the den. The dining room table was set for Christmas dinner for 35 family members and guests.

530 Amherst Street – The Hexagon House

The Hexagon House is a unique six-sided structure built for James W. Burgess, a Winchester furniture dealer, between 1871-1874. It is the only six-sided house in Virginia. In the late 1800s, polygonal houses were promoted as practical, economical and healthful as the plans allowed for more windows and doors that bring the occupant closer to nature. At the time, the house served as the administrative offices for the Glen Burnie Museum (now the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley).

730 Amherst Street – The Old Town Spring House

The spring house was built in 1756 as part of James Wood’s Glen Burnie estate. The fresh water springs were an important factor in the settlement of Winchester. George Washington, Frederick County’s representative in Virginia’s House of Burgesses, authored legislation in 1761 to protect public water supplies, in particular Winchester’s Old Town Spring. Winchester has one of the oldest public water systems in the United States. In 1808, the Winchester water supply was only a few years behind Philadelphia in the construction of a wooden piped system providing water directly to the City’s occupants.

800 Amherst Street – The Toll House

The Northwestern Turnpike, now US 50, was a major transportation route west of Winchester. This little house at the end of Amherst Street served as the tollkeeper’s house. Travelers stopped here to pay a toll before continuing along the road. PHW prevented demolition of this house by purchasing it through PHW’s Revolving Fund. The Toll House was then sold to Barbara Tierney who renovated the house into a delightful cottage retreat.

801 Amherst Street – Glen Burnie

The central portion of this Georgian house was built in 1794 by Robert Wood, son of Winchester’s founder Col. James Wood. In the 19th century the house was enlarged with wings added to either end. In the mid-20th century, Julian Wood Glass, Jr. began restoration of his ancestral home and Glen Burnie became his country retreat. For the tour, the house featured a Christmas tree with unique ornaments created by Glen Burnie’s late Curator of Gardens, R. Lee Taylor, who for nearly fifty years was an integral part of the restoration and preservation of the house. Glen Burnie opened to the public as a museum in 1997.

217 West Boscawen Street – Alicia and Bill Hartley

This Federal style house was built c. 1835 and was the home of John Bruce, the Scottish architect who built Christ Episcopal Church. The home was the site of the Preview Party with gourmet holiday fare provided by The Hotel Strasburg. The building may be better known as the Old Water Street Inn today.

525 Amherst Street – Bough and Dough Shop

The Bough and Dough Shop featured more than 40 talented artisans from throughout the mid-Atlantic region. It was and remains to date the largest Bough and Dough Shop space in the history of the tour. The shop was located in the former Super Fresh or A&P grocery store, now an adaptive reuse project for medical use.

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Voting for this match-up will begin on Friday, August 7 and run through Wednesday, August 12. We will post the link to the poll across social media next Friday and encourage you to share and participate. Results from each match will be announced in the Friday Roundup post and the bracket graphic will be updated. Have fun and feel free to comment with memories you may have of the tour to sway the outcome!

August Madness is coming! For fun this summer, the PHW Office is hosting a voting bracket to pick your favorite Holiday House Tour of years past. This week, we narrowed down the event themes from the previous 43 years to the top 16. The scientific selection process focused on the unique, memorable, and catchy names PHW volunteers and staff have generated over the years. The list was then randomized to generate the match-ups below.

Our first match-up pits the 1979 tour “Christmas Morning Long Ago” against the 2003 tour “At Home for Christmas.” To help you prepare for the polls opening on Survey Monkey July 31, here’s a refresher on the two tours!

Christmas Morning Long Ago in 1979 featured eight early homes and offices primarily in the South Loudoun Street area. In addition to the already impressive lineup of homes, the sites featured unique antique toys themed to each house.

Lozier House – 211 South Washington Street

This impressive Federal-Style brick, 2 1/2 story house was historically named “The Byrd House.” It was built in 1832 by Richard E. Byrd, a prominent Winchester lawyer. The beautiful Federal doorway has a fine elliptical fanlight and moldings. This house was willed to PHW by the late Mrs. Lucille Lozier. Three handsome miniature houses owned by Lee Taylor and decorated for Christmas were displayed, including the “Shadows-on the Teche” house viewable at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

PHW Office – 8 East Cork Street

The former headquarters for PHW located in this stone and frame building was owned in the late 18th century by Peter Lauck, one of General Daniel Morgan’s riflemen. This building is said to have been an out-building for Lauck’s “Red Lion Tavern” across the street. The headquarters was festively decorated and visitors were treated to a collection of early wheeled toys.

Dr. and Mrs. E.C. Stuart – 208 South Loudoun Street

Peter Lauck built this Federal-style native limestone dwelling adjacent to his “Red Lion Tavern” in 1789. The interior features original wide pine board floors, paneled woodwork, chair rail, cornices and fireplaces. The fireplace overmantel is paneled with carved oak leaves and dentil crown molding. Under the decorated Christmas tree an 1868 rocking horse and an 18th century cradle with a collection of dolls awaited visitors.

George Smith Weaving Shop – 217 South Loudoun Street

The Rutherford House was built in 1779 by Robert Rutherford, a member of the House of Burgesses, the Virginia Senate, and the U.S. Congress. The native limestone house with brick facing has a particularly attractive wood entry door with 8 panels and a fanlight. The door at street level under the front stairs leads to the basement of the Rutherford House, where the weaving shop was located. The wooden toys displayed here remind you of Christmas Morning Long Ago.

Dr. Craig C. Stoner – 311 South Loudoun Street

This exposed log house is known as the “Simon Lauck House.” Simon Lauck was a gunsmith and lived in this 2 story house with board and batten door and 2 corner stone fireplaces. This is the first house bought and sold through PHW’s Revolving Fund. Visitors to this house were treated to a display of some interesting wind-up toys.

Sacred Heart Church – 407 South Loudoun Street

The Roman Catholic Church circa 1870 has a tower with louvered belfry and spire. There are lancet windows in the tower and around the sides. The decorative details above the windows and elliptical brick work can be seen over the front door and fanlight. The brick basement, with its entrance on the side street, was used as the PHW Bough and Dough Shop for this tour.

Mr. and Mrs. William F. Miller – 510 South Loudoun Street

Henry Moore built this Federal-Style brick house circa 1795. An unusual feature is the diamond shaped design of brick headers incorporated in the north gable. The acorn design in the paneling over the mantel in the living room and the spindles of the stairway are similar to those at “Glen Burnie” and the “Red Lion Tavern.” A signed Isaac Zane fireback with an inscribed “Malboro Furnace” mark was discovered in the dining room fireplace. Early dolls and accessories were displayed with the traditional Christmas trimmings.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Rockwood – 522 South Loudoun Street

Dr. Cornelius Baldwin House is a Federal-style townhouse constructed in 1785 by Dr. Baldwin, physician to Lord Fairfax and grandfather of Mary Baldwin, the namesake of Mary Baldwin College. The exterior is covered with the original beaded weather boards and crowned with an 18th century modillion cornice. The elaborate interior woodwork and most of the original 6 paneled doors have remained intact. Small toys, tea sets, doll furniture and stuffed animals under the large Christmas tree and merrily burning Yule logs gave a warm welcome to visitors.

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At Home for Christmas in 2003 featured six homes in the North Braddock Street neighborhood, an area that has been lightly visited by PHW. The tour was designed to highlight seasonal surprises, music, and family traditions to get visitors in the mood to celebrate the upcoming holidays.

Peggy Sweeney and Jay Duvall – 216 North Braddock St.

Although George Washington never slept in this house, he nevertheless once owned the property on which the house was built. The c. 1820 home languished vacant save for a large population of pigeons for seven years prior to 1992. The Victorian detailing currently on the exterior of the house and the decorative walnut newel post and handrail in the interior were mid-19th century “improvements.” Mr. Duvall is a talented stained glass artist who has crafted the stained glass in the home’s doors.

Richard and Sarah Adams Bell – 119 Peyton St.

The Bell house was originally constructed in the early 1930s. The Bells purchased the house in 1997 and have been renovating ever since. Each phase of renovation was precursor to the birth of their children. Through the multiple phases, they have maintained a deep respect for the original construction and have carried details and finishes of the old throughout the new. The Bells delight in the purchase of a unique Christmas tree ornament that signifies the family’s life of the past year. The tree has become a living history of the family each holiday season.

Scott and Sue Dyke – 429 North Braddock St.

The Dyke home was built circa 1919 by Louis Baker, a pharmacist and owner of the Lovett Orchards. One of the Dyke daughters found the orchard’s apple stencil under the front porch. The house features Winchester mantels that were salvaged from a house demolished in downtown Winchester and date to about 1844. The family traditionally hosts the Dyke/Eyles family for Christmas Eve Dinner. Approximately 50 family members gather to sing a Christmas carol before dinner, followed by the “Thieves Christmas” game.

Robin Sutton – 435 North Braddock St.

The Suttons are only the second family to have lived in this house built by the Goode family in 1910. George Goode, the last member of the original family to live in the house, was Winchester’s first Eagle Scout and was a noted artist who painted many of the early Apple Blossom Program covers, some of which were on display. Several trees grace the house and are decorated with ornaments from the Sutton family, as well as some from the Goode family. Stories of mysterious happenings in the house were a part of the tour.

Anne and Jeff Buettner – 331 North Braddock St.

The Buettners purchased this 1870s Italianate-style house in 1998 and returned the building to its original status as a single family residence from several apartments. The house was the former manse of the Loudoun Street Presbyterian Church and was also the home of Charles B. Meredith, a jeweler, and between 1882 and 1891 the residence of William Baker, the chocolate manufacturer. The Buettners have collections of Santas, nut crackers, and Byer’s Choice Caroler dolls. Their two Christmas trees have ornaments made by their children and ones that Anne and Jeff have collected during the years.

Ed Duncan and Steve Saulka – 327 North Braddock St.

The preview party was held in the circa 1900 residence showing an eclectic mixture of Victorian, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival styles. When the house was purchased in 2000, it contained four apartments. The house consists of 14 rooms, 5 fireplaces, 5 bedrooms, and 6 baths. The owners have added a sunroom, porch, and an addition. The renovated barn behind the house, known to the owners as the “TGIF” room, was the setting for the food. Music by Robert Dumm and his physician students from the grand piano in the parlor enlivened the evening.

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Voting for this match-up will begin on Friday, July 31 and run through Wednesday, August 5. We will post the link to the poll across social media next Friday and encourage you to share and participate. Results from each match will be announced in the Friday Roundup post and the bracket graphic will be updated. Have fun and feel free to comment with memories you may have of the tour to sway the outcome!