OCRACOKE PRESERVATION SOCIETY TO OFFER HOLIDAY HISTORIC HOME TOUR DECEMBER 7TH, 2013
Seven historic homes on Howard Street will be open for viewing during this year’s event.
Have you ever wandered down Howard Street and longed for a peek inside the weathered old cottages? Now’s your chance!Join us Saturday, December 7th on Ocracoke for the Holiday Historic Home Tour. All the houses featured this year are located on Howard Street and will be available to view from 4 – 6 pm.
Under live oaks and cedars, among old family cemeteries and picket fences, you’ll find the houses of historic Howard Street. These homes will be decked out in their Christmas finery, and their doors thrown open for guests to enjoy. Enjoy old-fashioned village hospitality as you step inside these island sentinels from centuries past. Satisfy your curiosity about these small and sturdy homes along the sand and shell-strewn path.
Purchase or reserve your tickets for this event at the OPS Museum in
person, or by calling 252-928-7375. Ticket prices are $15 for
non-members and $12 for OPS members.Each of the houses on the Historic Home Tour is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a contributing structure in Ocracoke Village’s National Historic District. Ocracoke United Methodist Church will also be open for viewing.
Amy Howard, executive director of OPS, is excited to revive the Historic Home Tour that’s been on hiatus since 2003.
“There hasn’t been a Historic Home Tour for a decade,” she said. “And when I took this position last fall, I knew I wanted to bring it back.”
As this becomes an annual event, Amy plans to focus on a different section of the Historic District each year.
“I like the idea of having all the homes on the tour close together, so that it can be a walking tour,” she said. “I chose Howard Street to be first because it’s the last unpaved historic street on the island, and still has the feel of old Ocracoke.”
Except for the Methodist Church, the houses are all privately owned. Their owners are graciously opening their homes for Home Tour participants. There’ll be refreshments, too! Ticket sales will benefit Ocracoke Preservation Society.
The Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Exhibit in the Community Square will host a free Open House on the same day, from 4 – 6pm. The exhibit will welcome visitors with hot wassail punch and holiday goodies.
The OPS Museum Gift Shop will be open until 4pm to sell Home Tour
tickets and accommodate holiday shoppers. Other businesses will be open
in the village – along with your Historic Home Tour ticket, you’ll
receive a village map with open shops and restaurants clearly marked.Consider making a weekend of it, and join us Friday, December 6th for a Christmas choral concert at Ocracoke United Methodist Church at 7:30pm. Public Radio East’s classical music host, Finley Woolston, will direct his Joyful Band of Singers in this free holiday event sponsored by Ocracoke Alive.
Everyone is welcome!
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Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a brief history of the Soundfront Inn, one of the oldest structures on the island. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102113.htm.
Where I live a similar event occurs in the Spring. A little booklet tells the history of each house on the tour a map on the back page as each house is stamped upon entering . One year we attended the candle light tour on the Friday before the Saturday morning tours. I felt like a child on Halloween as there was a two hour window to visit the homes in the dark. And yes the only illumination was candles; that was a mixed bag for me as well, it was charming and frustrating . everything seemed out of focus for me. But, I knew I would return the next morning to view things more clearly in the light of day. Good Luck and I hope those on the tour realize the Herculean task of logistics and cooperation behind the scenes. I know the little old ladies that gave up their weekend to be hostesses missed a great opportunity to recruit new blood into their organization .
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