Montgomery Holiday Home Tour set for Thursday and Friday
By: Lynn Adams Smith
![]("/local/Z/ZWIRE1091/zwire/images/hansen.jpg") border="1" align="center" width="254" height="350" alt="Carol Hensen gets ready for the holidays in her kitchen at Trevanna Farms"> |
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size="-1" color="black"> Carol Hensen gets ready for the holidays in her kitchen at Trevanna Farms Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski
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The spirit of Christmas will be stirring Thursday and Friday, when the second annual Montgomery Holiday Home Tour, benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation Race for the Cure, takes place.
Six new host families with homes of varying styles, sizes and ages will open their doors to share their holiday traditions. Numerous themed Christmas trees, including collections of Lenox and Christopher Radko ornaments, will be on display.
Guests will be welcomed by the sounds of Christmas music and the smells of fresh cut evergreen, cinnamon and cocoa. Not only will holiday decorations adorn antiques, Swedish furniture, birdhouses, quilts, art collections and much more, but there will be a collection of antique toys on view.
A house tour in Montgomery would not be complete without a historic farm house. The Trevenna Farm was originally a three-room farmhouse in 1730. A major addition was built in 1830, and then again in the 1950s and finally completed in 1980. Today, the home is a large stately white clapboard colonial, sitting majestically on a hill with its own pond and barns.
The Travenna Farm is not only rich with history but possesses today’s modern conveniences. The spacious white kitchen has a nook and leads to the artist’s studio with views of the property. The living room has a grand piano and one of six fireplaces in the house. The dining room table is large enough for the extended family and is decorated with a collection of miniature houses. A keeping room, or summer kitchen, is the oldest part of the house. It still has the original bee hive oven.
![]("/local/Z/ZWIRE1091/zwire/images/table.jpg") border="1" align="center" width="330" height="240" alt="Ms. Henson’s dining room table, large enough to seat the extended family, has been set with miniature houses"> |
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size="-1" color="black"> Ms. Henson’s dining room table, large enough to seat the extended family, has been set with miniature houses Staff photo by Mark Czajkowski
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Tickets for the Home Tour can be picked up at the 1860 House at 124 Montgomery Road in Skillman. Tickets cost $30 if purchased before Nov. 29, or $35 at the door. Seniors pay $20 in advance, $25 at the door. The Nov. 30 tour is from 6 – 9 p.m. and tickets will be available at 5:30 p.m. A boutique at Daube Farm will be open from 6 – 9 p.m. for that evening’s tour.
The Dec. 1 ticket pick up time is 9:30 a.m. for the tour which begins at 10 a.m. The boutique hours will be from 9:30 a.m. -5 p.m.
While purchasing tickets to the tour, reservations can be made for the luncheon which will be served at the 1860 House on Dec. 1 between 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. and costs $10 per person. The Riverside Quartet will carol for patrons between 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. From 1 -2:30 p.m. the Woodland Consort Ensemble will perform using period instruments.
An exhibit of local artisans will be on display at the 1860 House. The art will be for sale and will include woodcuts, mini watercolors, jewelry, photography, sculpture and hand-blown glass ornaments.
Also on display will be a holiday quilt that will be raffled off Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. The quilt’s design includes homes participating in the tour and the 1860 House. The quilt was made by the staff at the Montgomery News and the Pennington Quilt Works.
The Holiday Boutique at Daube Farm is located at 361 Sunset Road in Skillman. There is something for everyone on your list at the boutique including Christmas books, soft sculpture Santas, Christmas topiaries, boxed nuts and fun holiday shaped candy. This year’s Christopher Radko breast cancer ornament is a pink bonnet with a floral ring around the brim.
Brenda Thurlow from the Montgomery News initiated the Holiday Home Tour in 1999. "This has been a community effort," she said of the volunteers. "We have 100 docents in the six homes. Everyone has known someone who has been affected by breast cancer. My goal with the tour is to make it a wonderful day for everyone while supporting this great cause."
All of the ticket, luncheon and raffle proceeds as well as 20-30 percent of the sales from the artists and vendors will go directly to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Call (908) 874-0020 for more information.