Kick start the holiday season or get some decorating ideas by taking part on the 15th annual Holiday House Tour, hosted by the Woman’s Club of Exeter Township. This year’s tour will be held Sunday, Dec. 2, from 1 to 6 p.m. Spend the afternoon visiting several homes and properties in Exeter Township that are decked out for the holidays. Along the way, there will be refreshments, music and raffles.
Tickets are $10 and are available at Boscov’s East and the Exeter Community Library. Once you have your tickets and tour booklet, the tour can be started at any of the stops.
Stop #1 660 W. Neversink Jon and Anne Long
The 3-story brownstone farmhouse had been unoccupied for more than 22 years. The owners have spent the past 17 years renovating, repairing and decorating. Part of the home was built in the 1750s and the rest was added on around 1810. Their holiday decorations are a mix of old-fashioned Christmas and Victorian, adding a quaint old world charm to the inviting ambiance. The Long’s welcome you to come and enjoy the warmth of the original open hearth fireplace and their hospitality.
Stop #2 3913 Reiff Place Teresa Kane
My family and I moved into our lovely brick front house 11 years ago. I grew up not too far from here. I watched Exeter grow by leaps and bounds, but I always felt it kept its sense of community and its eagerness to help one another. From the moment I walked through the door of our home, I started painting, redoing and changing the inside of the house. Just about every door, wall, ceiling and floor has been touched by me. One of the great pluses of the holidays is you get to decorate. I use what Mother Nature gives us and combine that with antiques and handmade items. I have a style that’s fresh and sometimes put together in a way that you usually would not see those items.
Stop #3 1001 Vista Lane and Church Lane Road
Sherrie and Ken Greene We are the original owners of this 2-story Colonial/Victorian home built in 1990 at the very top of Church Lane Road, the highest point in Exeter Township. We invite you to enter our faux-painted foyer and first travel upstairs to view the master bedroom decorated with vintage Christmas decor, featuring a mahogany rice-carved four-poster bed and our two guest rooms – one of which is totally Victorian featuring a wonderful rocking horse piece hanging over a vintage brass bed. Downstairs we invite you to first enter our favorite room; our lilac Victorian living room, then pause briefly in our Tuscan dining room and sample some treats. Lastly, visit our family room and large country kitchen. Be sure to look out our family room picture window to view our fairy setting complete with our fairy friend’s lighted house all decorated for the holidays. We are honored to have the opportunity to share our home with you.
Stop #4 5 Sherwood Drive – Glen Oley Farms
Home and Barn Allison and Rich Broadbent
Welcome to our home. We purchased this property in the summer of 1993, after a long search. I remember the first time I drove down the long secluded grass and dirt lane and thinking…this is it! It looked and felt like an Eden. The Owatan Creek flows right through our property and we are surrounded by farmlands. Our brick farmhouse was originally built in 1858, by Williams and Mary Nine. The barn was built a year early in 1856. The original entrance to our property before Glen Oley Farms existed was off Ritter Road, through the Jordan Bausher’s property, which is now our pasture. The Mt. Penn Trolley, which went through Farming Ridge, also passed along our property. We are looking forward to celebrating our 20th Christmas here. It seems only fitting to share it with the Exeter Woman’s Club, which does so many wonderful things for the people of Exeter Township, especially the Exeter Community Library. Christmas at the Broadbent’s usually consists of traditional Christmas trimmings, such as garland ribbon, a 10 foot Christmas tree, reindeer and many Santa Clauses, along with a touch of heartwarming candlelight and three fireplaces.
Stop #5 83 Sycamore Drive Cindy and Dennis Graham
This ‘white house with a green roof’ is a farm style house in Grist Mill Farms. This street is quiet, surrounded by nature and the woods. Our Christmas style is eclectic and full of homespun, homemade and humorous style. Years of collecting special Santa figures, snowmen and Christmas trees have turned our basement into a warehouse for most of the year. We create a warm and fun-filled space to celebrate the holidays. A teddy bear Christmas tree, hand carved Santa’s and two feather trees full of miniature ornaments are but a few of the surprises waiting to be discovered. We are excited to share Christmas cheer with our community.
Stop #6 700 Fabers Road Sue and Rick Gromis
We welcome you to 700 Fabers Road, or as Robert Henton (son of George and Sara Boone Henton) named his 1775 homestead, ‘Friendship.’ Entering the original, restored one room cabin, visitors are taken back to 18th century rural America with period decor representation of the season. Though it is new construction, the kitchen features an exposed log wall, hand-crafted countertops, as well as decorations appropriate during the 19th century. The great room off the log cabin and kitchen features a restored mantle from an 1830’s Main Line mansion, along with traditional Christmas decorations. Come travel through several centuries and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas past and present.
Two additional stops, Mutschler’s Florist and Rare Plants (6601 Perkiomen Avenue) and Diamond Credit Union (Route 422 and Pineland Road) will offer refreshments throughout the day.
