A Slight Change Of Plans—

9th Annual Homes And Gardens Tour Coming On Saturday

Newtown Historical Society invites the public to participate in its Ninth Annual Historic House and Garden Tour this weekend.

The annual tour of vintage properties on Saturday, July 12, will run from 11 am to 5 pm. This year’s tour will feature eight historic properties including the house that is purportedly the oldest in Newtown –– a 1705 cider mill converted into a residence –– and several privately owned “secret gardens” along Main Street.

The tour is a self-guided event. Tickets are $20 each and are available at C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street. Last-minute reservations can be made by leaving a message on the answering machine at The Matthew Curtiss House, 426-5937. Tickets can be picked up the morning of the house tour.

Tickets, as always, are available on a first-come, first-served availability. Many past tours have sold out. If tickets are available the day of the tour, they will be available for purchase at Matthew Curtiss House between 10 am and noon.

All proceeds from the house and garden tour are used toward preservation and ongoing maintenance of the Curtiss House, which serves as headquarters for Newtown Historical Society, a nonprofit organization. Proceeds are also used for the society’s educational programs.

Sallie Meffert and Jo-Ann Scebold are the co-chairs of this year’s tour. The ladies say they feel blessed to have such outstanding properties yet again on this year’s tour.

The homes range from the late 1600s to 1840. In addition to the aforementioned cider mill, which is a circa 1706 construction that also features one of its original apple trees on the grounds, one house has a center chimney with five working fireplaces of its own; most homes have old fireplaces, and several have beehive ovens with original doors; and there are original window panes, post and beam construction, wide plank floors, wooden counter tops, original woodwork and cabinetry to be discovered. One property also features an outhouse.

Many of the homes enjoy the shade of mature plantings. There are majestic maple trees on several properties, as well as an herb garden at another.

The featured properties are on Great Ring Road (house and barn on tour), Main Street (one property will have its house and gardens open, and three additional properties will be featuring their gardens only) Poorhouse Road (house, barn and gardens on tour), and Thunder Ridge (home on tour).

For those who have already received their tickets or have been hearing about the tour through word of mouth please note that the house on Poverty Hollow Road that was originally announced as being on the tour has been dropped from this year’s event due to an unexpected change in the plants of the homeowners.

Another house has been added to the tour, however, on Chestnut Hill Road. The current owners have been living in the house for 15 years and have done a number of renovations themselves. The floors feature wide chestnut boards, the kitchen was recently renovated, and the dwelling features post and beam construction. There is also a paddock on the property, a number of beautiful gardens and a pond, and a patio that was also put in by the current homeowners.

“The work that’s been put into this house is amazing, and what makes it even more so is that all of the additions and renovations have been in keeping with the home’s original look,” co-chairman Jo-Ann Scebold mentioned this week. “It’s all been done to perfection. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

Also this year, master gardener Brid Craddock will be welcoming visitors to the back garden of Matthew Curtiss House. Mrs Craddock will explain her recent plantings of historic perennials and offer hints on how to start historic gardens. The Curtiss House itself will also be open for visitors.