Holiday House Tour – Page 13 – Preservation of Historic Winchester

Holiday House Tour: Centre Meeting House

203 North Washington Street
Centre Meeting House

The Centre Meeting House is one of two historic Quaker meeting houses in the Winchester/Frederick County area. It was built in 1872 by Winchester Centre Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. This is the third meeting house used by Winchester Centre Meeting, which was established in 1776. The first location was at the southwest corner of the intersection of Valley Avenue and Jubal Early Drive until about 1820. The meeting then moved to a location in the 600 block of South Washington Street. After this building was destroyed during the Civil War, the meeting moved to the current location.

At the center of the building is a folding wall, which divides it into two rooms. The paneled wall at one time could be raised or lowered by a crank located above the present ceiling. Until the late 1800s, separate men’s and women’s business meetings were held. The wall could be raised for meeting for worship or lowered for the separate business meetings.

In 1999, Winchester Centre and Hopewell Monthly Meetings joined together to form Hopewell Centre Meeting. Meetings for worship are held at Centre as well as the Hopewell Meeting House near Clear Brook. The Centre building is also used for many community purposes. You may visit them on Facebook for more information on Hopewell Centre Meeting and their two historic meeting houses.

The Friends have graciously opened their yard at Centre Meeting for Holiday House Tour visitor parking. This will be the closest parking lot available for Fairmont Avenue, as there is no on-street parking for that street. We anticipate being able to serve hot drinks at Centre for our guests as well.

Please thank today’s highlighted Holiday House Tour sponsor, Belle Grove Plantation. They are hosting their own holiday event this year – be sure to visit them while you are taking in the Winchester festivities! Click on the ad to see it full size or visit their website and Facebook for all the details.

Holiday House Tour tickets are on sale now at these following locations in Winchester:
The Final Yard, 33 E. Gerrard St.
Kimberly’s, 135 N. Braddock St.
Winchester Book Gallery, 7 N. Loudoun St. (new location from last year!)
Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center, 1400 S. Pleasant Valley Rd.
Bough & Dough Shop at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St.
Online order (adult tickets only) or the PHW website (adult and child ticket options)

The Paypal “continue shopping” glitch mentioned previously appears to have been resolved. Make sure to save your receipt from PayPal until you get your tickets in hand! You can always contact us at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com if you have difficulty checking out.

Friday Roundup: Events Coming Soon!

While we might be deep in Holiday House Tour and Bough & Dough Shop (opening next Friday!), there are still other events you may want to check out.

First, Winchester Ciderworks will be hosting “From Apples to Cider: An Interactive Panel Discussion” on November 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Winchester Ciderworks, 2504 North Frederick Pike, Winchester, VA. The cider industry is booming, but it owes its local success to our region’s rich apple-growing heritage, which began in the Shenandoah Valley over a century ago. Come take part in the discussion among members of some of the oldest apple growing families of the region. From orchard origins through market trials and tribulations, to where things now stand, and where they may go in the future.

Next, if you have been curious about how our upstairs neighbors at the Hexagon House, the Shenandoah Arts Council, are settling in, you will have a chance to see them and their space on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. This open house coincides with the Bough & Dough Shop happening downstairs, so before or after you shop, go up and say hi!

As a friendly reminder, Holiday House Tour tickets will go on sale November 16 at these following locations in Winchester:
The Final Yard, 33 E. Gerrard St.
Kimberly’s, 135 N. Braddock St.
Winchester Book Gallery, 7 N. Loudoun St. (new location from last year!)
Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center, 1400 S. Pleasant Valley Rd.
Bough & Dough Shop at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St.

And tickets are on sale now online. We are currently holding orders until the program booklets arrive. We would also like to note there is a glitch with PayPal currently in the “continue shopping” button that takes you to the completed checkout page. You have not, in fact, checked out if you did not get an email receipt from PayPal. Make sure you get your email receipt from PayPal or we will not have tickets set aside to mail to you. You can find the button on our website www.phwi.org. You can always contact us at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com if you have difficulty checking out.

Be sure to thank Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, one of the sponsors for the 2018 Holiday House Tour! Click the ad to view it full size.

Holiday House Tour: Bough & Dough Shop

The Bough & Dough Shop at the Hexagon House
530 Amherst Street

November 16-December 9
Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 2 & 9, noon-5 p.m.
Closed for Thanksgiving

Open to the public—no admission fee

This unique six-sided house was built between 1871-1874 by James Burgess. While no one knows for sure, he may have built the house to showcase the wares from his furniture business. Today, the Hexagon House is owned and maintained by the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley as office space for Preservation of Historic Winchester and the Shenandoah Arts Council. This holiday season, the PHW offices on the first floor will be turned into a boutique-style holiday gift shop featuring artisans from the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding regions. You are sure to find something delightful or delicious inside!

The Hexagon House will have themed zones—the kitchen with baked treats, condiments, and canned goods, including free samples for taste-testing some products; the dining room with pottery, glassware, and handwoven baskets; and the parlor with unique handcrafted gifts, ornaments, and artwork. Be sure to look in every nook for delightful surprises!

When you purchase artisan goods or greenery from the Shop, you will be supporting PHW’s mission to preserve the best of the area’s past. We could not do it without your support!

Free parking is available at the top of the hill on a paved lot. Additional parking is available on-street on Hawthorne Dr. Win Tran Amherst line bus stops are available east and west-bound almost directly in front of the Shop, and buses run Monday-Saturday.

Please help us maintain our historic office by wearing flat shoes and keeping drinks and food samples in the kitchen. As a historic building, steps are required to enter. For your convenience, we strongly suggest utilizing the back door, which has only two steps up and a wider door opening.

You can get a sneak peek at the artists and projected layout in our Shop Brochure and website.

Be sure to visit Lisa T. McCoig, CPA, PC and thank their team for supporting the Holiday House tour in 2018!

Holiday House Tour: Volunteers Needed!

Preservation of Historic Winchester needs volunteers to help lead tours for the Holiday House Tour on December 1 & 2 between 1-5 p.m. Volunteers are needed both inside houses and to lead short walking tours of distances about 0.25-0.5 miles between sites. Please leave your name, contact information, and preferred days and times to volunteer at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com. Volunteers may receive complimentary tour tickets for their volunteerism.

Many of our members also come through for us every year with greenery for the Bough & Dough Shop. If you have boxwood, magnolia, holly, or other evergreens in need of a trim this fall, PHW will begin collecting cuttings after Thanksgiving (around Nov. 28) and may need replenishing through Dec. 7 or 8. Volunteers may be able to go to your location to pick up and/or cut greenery for you, or you may bring cut greenery to the back yard at the Hexagon House. Please feel free to contact us at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com for more information.

Last but not least, if you are in need of some postcards with the Holiday House Tour information or Bough & Dough Shop brochures, we have extras at the PHW office at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St. We expect to have some 8.5×11 posters by next week. Feel free to drop by and pick some up if you are in the neighborhood!

Last but not least, we would like to extend our thanks to Bank of Clarke County, our major Holiday House Tour sponsor. We would not be able to produce our lovely program booklets, brochures, and advertising without their financial support. Be sure to click on the image for a full view of their ad for 2018.

PHW’s 42nd Holiday House Tour on Dec. 1 & 2

Happy Friday! We are putting the final touches on the printing for this year’s Holiday House Tour this week. Remember to mark your calendars for December 1 & 2 between 1-5 p.m. for the site and walking tours in the Fairmont, North Loudoun, and Peyton neighborhood in Winchester, VA.

We will start on our coverage of our sponsors, artisans, and sites next week. In the meantime, we are happy to share our program booklet and our Google map to the event and advance ticket sale locations so you can get a look at what’s coming up!

Tickets will officially go on sale November 16 when we anticipate having program booklets in hand and the Bough and Dough Shop opens at the Hexagon House. However, if you would like to get a head start, you may order via PayPal now at our Online Shop and we will begin holding tickets for you.

Note that this year we are offering only afternoon tours, and tickets will be valid for either day. Light refreshments will be served at the tour sites instead of a centralized house this year. A Saturday afternoon and guides to walk people between the sites has been requested many times over the years, so we hope that this will work out well for us and our visitors – don’t worry, we will have a feedback survey again at the end of the event so you can tell us how it went. We would also like to note that the Fort at 411 N. Loudoun will have several units open and decorated for tours, and artifacts found on the site will be available for viewing. Remember that the adjoining site of the well at 419 N. Loudoun will only be staffed on Saturday. You can also take a look at our FAQ page and see if that answers any questions you might have – and if it doesn’t, please touch base with us at 540-667-3577 or phwinc.org@gmail.com.

Friday Roundup: City Hall and Hexagon House Updates

From Tim Youmans, news on the City Hall renovation that could be of use to many of our members:

“Please note that the Planning Department, the Zoning & Inspections Department (including Code Enforcement), and the Engineering division of the Public Services Department have all moved into the newly created Development Services Concourse on the 3rd floor of Rouss City Hall offering ‘One-Spot’ customer service for our land development partners. The City Attorney office has also relocated back to the 3rd floor of City Hall from the Creamery Building. Construction is still underway in some parts of City Hall so please pardon our disruption. A formal grand reopening of City Hall will be scheduled in early 2019.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Hexagon House while we prep for Bough & Dough Shop. Please pardon our dust and watch for trip hazards while we shuffle tables into position and dig things out of the closets. The house will essentially be on reduced access (kitchen/stairs to access ShenArts from the rear door) Nov. 12-15 as artisan goods begin to arrive, but fret not – we should be able to chat house history and do some modified tours again when we reopen at the Shop November 16.

If you are an artist just now learning about the Bough & Dough Shop as the flyers are getting distributed, no worries! While our jury lineup for 2018 is full, we still have the online Google application and print and mail forms available. We know unforeseen circumstances may happen and a spot may open or we may have more room in our setup than we anticipated (remember, it’s our first year at this location, so we’ve never seen the space set up as a shop!), so we are still collecting applications. We will keep your information on file for 2019 and likely reach out again in March once we review how the changes we implemented this year worked out.

We are also still accepting new and gently used bubble wrap for the Shop, and if you are thinking of trimming any evergreens after Thanksgiving to early December, we would be happy to accept trimmings. Some popular greenery includes magnolia, holly (with berries if possible), cedar and juniper (with berries if possible), as well as pine with pinecones, boxwood, laurel, nandina, and other evergreen or berried foliage suitable for decorating.

We are also close to completing the Holiday House Tour booklet. If you are hoping to slip an advertisement in at the last moment, we can likely accommodate one half page ad (5″x4″, $150) and one business card sized ad (2″x3.5″, $75). If you have questions or need help, contact us at phwinc.org@gmail.com or 540-667-3577. Remember to get your ad in by October 31!

Friday Roundup: Holiday House Tour and More!

Happy Friday! It has been a hectic few weeks behind the scenes pulling Holiday House Tour together this year. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, there will be some changes to the tour schedule and offerings this year. While we are not 100% finalized, we are now looking at daylight tours only on the afternoon of Saturday and Sunday, December 1 & 2, 2018. Expanding on the experiment last year, there will be guided walking tours to take you past the sites open on the tour; like last year we anticipate the last guides will depart at 4 PM to give you time to complete tours by 5 PM. Details are still being finalized, so expect a final update with site announcements closer to Halloween.

Tomorrow is the grand Unveiling of the Shenandoah Valley Tapestry Project! It will take place Saturday, October 20th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at The Village at Orchard Ridge 400 Clocktower Ridge Dr, Winchester, VA. From the latest news on the parking: “All parking for the event is complimentary and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please plan to arrive early, so you can take care of parking. It takes 5-7 minutes to walk from some distant parking lots to the venue. Please follow designated pedestrian routes from the lots to the venue. Accessible parking can be found near the main entrance to the Village at Orchard Ridge. Please follow directional signage and directions from event staff for accessible parking locations.” We hope many of you will be able to attend and see the tapestry in all its glory!

Also on tap tomorrow is the Green Neighborhood Expo in Old Town Winchester, 11 AM-3PM. Stop by to learn about sustainability practices, energy, soil and water conservation, gardening, native plants to Winchester, recycling, tree care, and more. There will be educational displays, interactive demos and experts available to answer your questions. The event is free and open to the public, brought to you by the City’s Environmental Sustainability Taskforce. For more information, email the EST at est@winchesterva.gov.

While you are downtown, you may want to pop in to Winchester Book Gallery’s new location at 7 N. Loudoun for a book signing with author John Plashal for A Beautifully Broken Virginia. You can read a bit more about the book at the blog DC by Design between 11AM-1PM.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we work on the last bits of Holiday House Tour. We have a lot of changes on tap for the Tour and for the Shop, so expect a few bumps along the road – however, we still believe we have a great tour lined up and are excited to share it with you!

Friday Roundup: Two Saturday Events and More Curated Reading

First, we want to share two events are taking place Saturday. While inclement weather cancelled Celebracion, Winchester Main Street Foundation is on again for a rain or shine event! Start your morning at the North End Community Clean Up. Meet at Highland Memorial Presbyterian Church, 446 Highland Ave. about 8:30 – 9 a.m. to receive your tools and instructions. Lunch will be provided at the end of the event. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, and bring work gloves if you have them. Find more details at the City website or on Facebook.

Don’t forget City of Winchester Planning Director Tim Youmans will host a repeat performance of his in-depth history of Winchester on Saturday as well. The event is sponsored by Friends of the Handley Library at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Handley Regional Library auditorium, 100 W. Piccadilly St.

On to the curated reading! If you need some talking points for a local official before making a decision November 6, try 10 Questions to Ask Someone Running for Local Office from Strong Towns for some good preservation-minded questions and things to listen for in answers.

It is also that time of the year for flu season. While not exactly preservation related, some of you may be interested in a recap of the different ways outbreaks react in large and small cities at City Lab.

Are you working on a project or for an organization involving history and need some ideas on how to make your statements, fundraising, videos, impact reports, or newsletter reflect your values in a way easy for those outside your target audience to understand? You may want to visit History Relevance and take a look at their Toolkit page to see examples in action.

I greatly enjoyed the excerpt from Jeff Speck’s Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places reprinted in A Step-by-Step Guide for Fixing Badly Planned American Cities, which will release October 15. I look forward to picking up the book and adding it to our design shelf at PHW. (Remember, if you would also like to order the book through Amazon, sign in through our AmazonSmile link and PHW receives a small percentage of the purchase price. The donations add up, so thank you to anyone who has supported us this way!)

We are also delighted to note the Bough & Dough Shop brochure will soon have a second printing with an updated artisan list. Download the second edition now, and keep an eye out for physical brochures around town!

Bough & Dough Shop Lineup for 2018

Although we are a month earlier than anticipated, PHW is pleased to announce the vendor lineup for 2018 Bough & Dough Shop. As we had previously mentioned, we seriously took into consideration the feedback we had heard on the Shop asking for more vendors in a variety of media and for a longer time frame. This year, we are happy to announce twenty unique businesses and artists from the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding areas. The lineup includes familiar faces but also many new artists and products. Download a copy of the brochure for the Shop here – we anticipate receiving our printed flyers by next Friday if you would like to pick a few up.

We are still searching for an artist who could make wreaths, swags, etc. from the live greenery we will receive after Thanksgiving and through the end of the event on December 9. All other artists, please feel free to submit your applications, and we will keep you for our will-call list after November 16 if we have a last minute opening.

In the meantime, get excited for the following artists and businesses who will have products at the Bough and Dough Shop at the Hexagon House between November 16-December 9:

Basket Cases, handwoven baskets, bells, and corn angels, Virginia Stultz and Jean Whetzel
Best in Glass Studio, fused and stained art glass, Dawn and Jim Moore
Blooming Hill Lavender Farm and Gift Shop, lavender products and garden gifts, Cyndie and Peter Rinek
Marilynn Boyd, beaded jewelry and ornaments
Nina Burke, painted gourds, silk paintings, polymer clay jewelry (after Nov. 17)
Eugene B. Smith Gallery, notecards and prints
Fibergig, silk scarves, pouches, and textile products, Norma Fredrickson
Hackwood Farm, pickles and canned goods
The Homestead Farm at Fruit Hill Orchard, baked and sweet treats, candles, bath and body products
J&W Farm, birdseed wreaths, condiments, and cake mixes
Klay Haus Pottery, functional wheel-thrown pieces, Lin Hausknecht (after Nov. 27)
Meraki Creations, Hot Flash Pottery and d’vine baskets by Brenda Fairweather
Libba Pendleton, felted creations and yarn jewelry
Pond’s Edge Studio, handwoven scarves and shawls, Jeffrey Guenther
Preservation of Historic Winchester, premade bows, Holiday House Tour tickets, freshly cut greenery for holiday decorating
Rosemary Tarrant, quilted table runners and microwave bowls, candle mats, and fabric decor
R&R Journals, small handmade journals, Rebecca Hunt
Shenandoah Acrylic Resin Art, poured abstract coasters and canvas originals, Dana Thomas
TL Cards and Crafts, notecards, jute wreaths, and cross stitch, Tracie Carbaugh
Jackie Tobin, Handcrafts of the Shenandoah Valley
Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, books on local history

Friday Roundup: Celebración Winchester, Meditations on BAR

Out and about this weekend? Stop by the downtown to catch up with PHW at Celebración of Winchester on Sunday, September 23, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A PHW board member or two should be around with an assortment of goodies, including a hot off the press early run brochure for the Bough & Dough Shop. We expect to have the Featured Artists portion of the PHW website updated later today or early next week so you can start exploring some of the amazing vendors and items we will have at the Hexagon House in November and early December.

Yesterday’s Board of Architectural Review meeting was a heartening experience after a tough few months of fighting for historic preservation and compromise as the accepted and useful strategy for dealing with problem buildings. Earlier this year, a new developer came to BAR with a plan for the Guitar Studio building on South Loudoun Street. It is a building of the recent past that attained contributing status in the latest architectural survey. Compared to the similarly-aged commercial buildings of the 200 block of East Piccadilly, this building truly is vernacular and of no discernible architectural style. It was likely built in the late 1940s, replacing an earlier frame building of about the same footprint. At some point between construction and the 1976 survey, some “colonial touches” were added that muddled the exterior appearance and “read” of the building.

During the initial BAR meeting in May, a number of the proposed changes were not in keeping with the Winchester BAR Design Guidelines. The majority of the application was tabled while PHW and the owners did some investigation of the building history and reading up on the BAR design guidelines. The applicants returned last night for a conceptual review, having read up, learned more about their building and researched more proposed products. The applicants were very open and excited to bounce ideas off the BAR members and solicited suggestions for further improvement before the application comes up for a full vote.

In the end, the applicant will likely have a new storefront more in line with a 1940s commercial building rather than trying to hang on to some oddball features to make a commercial building look residential. The longtime business resident is not being displaced. Opportunities for increased and improved residential density as well as proactively mitigating concerns is being addressed now rather than later. A situation that could have turned sour and confrontational was instead a pleasant experience of opening new possibilities, compromise and excitement for everyone involved. We are looking forward to seeing a “final product” application for this building.

We hope other applicants approach the BAR process with this same open mindset and willingness to compromise and explore various options. Again, we cannot stress enough how helpful a conceptual review discussion is both for the applicant and the Board of Architectural Review, and we encourage anyone considering a large and involved project to take advantage of this service before becoming married to an idea that may not work well with the Historic District.

Learn more on the city’s website about Winchester’s Historic Districts and Board of Architectural Review.