11th Annual Tour Returns July 9—

Historic Homes And Gardens Will Open For Visits

Newtown Historical Society will present its 11th Annual Historic Homes & Gardens Tour on Saturday, July 9.

In tipping its hat to the series of events being presented by groups and businesses all year to celebrate Newtown’s tercentennial, the historical society has added a few extra features to this year’s tour. In addition to having a number of privately-owned homes and gardens on the tour, there will be a champagne reception on Friday, July 8, at which time Town Historian Dan Cruson will offer his lecture “Newtown’s Painted Ladies: Victorian Architecture in a Small New England Town.”

For a few hours on Saturday, Mary Mitchell will be at the antique barn behind the home of Shane and George Miller, where she will be signing copies of Touring Newtown’s Past: The Settlement and Architecture of an Old Connecticut Town. That book, which Mrs Mitchell co-authored with her dear friend, the late Al Goodrich, has gone into a second printing. Four of the properties on the tour this year were featured in Touring Newtown’s Past.

Visitors will be invited to sip some cold lemonade and chat with Mrs Mitchell about her books and Mr and Mrs Miller about their barn.

In the town’s Hanover district, Mae and Bob Schmidle will not only have their circa 1710 home on the tour, they will also be hosting a special presentation of “A Flag For Newtown: Tercentennial Folk Art Flag Show.” The collection of folk art-style paintings, antique paintings and new sculpture had been on view during June at C.H. Booth Library.

The self-guided homes and gardens tour this year will offer ticket-holders access to four private homes and gardens, three additional private gardens, one public garden and the aforementioned antique barn at the Miller home.

The tour will run from 11 am to 5 pm and will happen rain or shine.

Tickets for the tour are $25 and include Friday’s lecture by Mr Cruson along with the tour on Saturday.

They’re on sale now at C.H. Booth Library (25 Main Street) and The Little Green Barn (4 Washington Avenue). Tickets that haven’t been sold by the day of the tour will be available at Matthew Curtiss House (44 Main Street), but only between the hours of 10 am until noon, or until they sell out.

Proceeds from the sale of homes and gardens tour tickets benefit Newtown Historical Society, the upkeep of Matthew Curtiss House (the society’s headquarters) and the society’s educational programs. Additionally, all proceeds from the sale of Mrs Mitchell and Mr Goodrich’s book have always and will continue to benefit the historical society.

Docents will be positioned at each stop on the self-guided tour. They will greet visitors as they reach each stop of the tour and offer information about each home and/garden.

Paula Stephan is still looking for volunteers to serve as docents on July 9. Information about the house they will be working at will be provided. Contact Ms Stephan for additional information at 270-3774.

For additional information or to reserve tickets for the homes and gardens tour leave a message on Newtown Historical Society’s answering machine (426-5937) or visiting www.NewtownHistory.org.