Tea for touring: Annual Holiday Homes Tour and Christmas Tea Room returns to Harrodsburg
Published 7:00 am Saturday, November 25, 2017
HARRODSBURG — The annual Christmas Tea Room and Holiday Homes Tour returns to Harrodsburg Dec. 1-2, boasting an impressive lineup of historical homes and homemade delicacies, all benefitting Harrodsburg Historical Society. The homes tour happens Saturday, while the tea room is open Friday and Saturday.
“This is a way we extend our warmest hospitality, and invite others into our community, our homes, and into our hearts,” says Marian Bauer with the Historical Society.
Celebrating its 26th season, the Holiday Homes Tour lists eight different stops for this year’s round. This is a major fundraiser for the HHS, Bauer says, and the organization sincerely appreciates those who have made the tour — and tea — part of their Christmas tradition over the years.
“They will experience properties of different eras, built in a variety of architectural styles, all with unique and interesting histories,” Bauer says. This year, she says the homes date from the early to late 1800s, with a schoolhouse added in — all with “wonderful stories to tell.”
Morgan Row will once again house the ambiance of the tea room. The northern section of the four sections included in “the row” in Harrodsburg, once entering Morgan, those dining are in an establishment that welcomed guests to its tavern in the 1830s. The Historical Society purchased the building in the ’60s, and began a very faithful restoration, ongoing with updates and maintenance throughout the years. Most recently, Bauer says new roofing was done, and windows are being rebuilt or replaced.
“It also houses the Society’s Genealogical Research Library,” Bauer says.
The tour wouldn’t be possible without the generosity and kindness of the home and property owners, Bauer says. “They open up their places to the general public, allow us into their space. It’s such an awesome experience. Such wonderful stories to hear and learn.”
This year’s menu for the tea room includes items like soups (oyster stew, vegetable and chili); sandwiches (country ham salad, pimento cheese, chicken salad and olive nut); beverages, including hot spiced tea; and various desserts. Items are priced from .75 cents to $3.50.
List of homes on the 2017 Holiday Homes Tour
• Edward Jones (Perry Dressler), 130 Moreland Ave.
• Ingerson House, 432 Beaumont Ave.
• Shewmaker House, 1211 Perryville Road
• Scomp House/Genriver Farm, 266 Dry Branch Road
• Old Mudd Meeting House, 730 Dry Branch Road
• Joseph Morgan House/Round Ridge, 1060 Industry Road
• Old Harrodsburg High School, 371 E. Lexington St.
• Old Shaker Tavern Farm, 4236 Lexington Rd.
IF YOU GO
• The annual Christmas Tea Room will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, in Morgan Row, 222 S. Chiles St. in Harrodsburg — directly behind the Mercer County Judicial Center. Carryout orders are available by calling (859) 734-5985.
• The Holiday Homes Tour is 1-7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2. Tour tickets do not include the tea room; self-guided tours may be taken in any order. Tickets are sold at all the sites on tour as well as Morgan Row (Historical Society Headquarters and Tea Room); Beaumont Inn; and the Harrodsburg Tourist Commission. Tickets: adults/$15; seniors & groups of 20 or more/$11. For anyone who would like to purchase a ticket before Dec. 1, call Marian Bauer at (859) 749-2485.
SO YOU KNOW
Check out the Looking Back page to find more out about the history behind the Scomp House, by our history writer Brenda Edwards.
