POTTSTOWN >> This year there was no rain, there was no epic snow storm – just crowds.
The 29th annual Pottstown Candlelight House Tour brought hundreds to Pottstown, some for the first time, to get an inside-and-out look at the historic architecture that makes the borough stand out.
“What amazes me is all the things people do with their houses,” said Pat Hagge, who was giving tours of Trinity Reformed Church at King and Hanover streets.
She showed photos of the church when it had a tall spire that was struck by lightning in 1926, causing a fire that destroyed everything but the church’s familiar stone walls.
The church historians even had an architectural element of the spire on display, singed by the fire and dented by its fall.
A house tour veteran, Hagge was showing the church, its towering timber rafters and glittering stained glass windows to Barb Myers of Kenilworth and Gordon Gaugler of Douglassville, when a 21st Century Media reporter tagged along for the tour.
“I have an old farmhouse, so I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into these old homes,” said Gaugler.
“It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been on the tour,” said Myers. “It’s such a good idea and there are so many amazing homes just on this street,” she said in reference to North Hanover Street, perhaps the most familiar historic district in town.
One of those homes, at 125 N. Hanover St., is owned by Jim and Susan Kane, who moved to Pottstown from Collegeville, “where we were living in a newer home with no character and vinyl siding,” said Jim Kane.
Built in 1883, the bright and cheerful brick Victorian with high ceilings and original woodwork spent some time cut into multi-units, but it was restored by a lawyer who used it as an office for a time and now the Kanes call it home.
“We really love living in town, we’ve gotten to know the neighbors and nobody builds homes like this any more,” said Susan Kane.
But Pottstown has history busting out all over and equally historic homes of a different period – in the borough’s east end – were also on the tour and boasted just as much history.
Kevin Brown and his wife Tracey bought their home at 5 Saylor Court, a cul de sac far off the beaten track, a little over two years ago.
Custom built in 1951 for Leon Prince – founder of the Bally Case and Cooler Company – and his wife Eleanor, the stone home still has a prototype of the refrigerators the company made built into the wall in Brown’s basement bar.
“We had it charged up with Freon and turned it on and it has kept a cool 36 degrees ever since,” Brown said. “The only problem is it weighs a couple hundred pounds.”
After living for several years in “the manor,” as the homes on the west side of Route 100 are often called, Brown said he and his wife wanted something larger.
“The bones are good, we mostly just needed to do some painting and landscaping and, in a lament familiar to many an historic home owner, he added, “and then there was the roof. It’s slate so the first day we moved in we had a $4,000 bill.”
But he says they would not trade it for anything.
Standing in the dining room, he pointed out the plaster medallion over the chandelier, the built-in sideboard and custom-made bow window.
“They don’t build houses like this any more,” he said.
Another legendary Pottstown business, the Schulz bakery, was represented by Stan and Lisa Szpindor, who opened their home at 10 Park Court to curious visitors – a home finished in 1940 for the Schulz family.
“We did a lot of the work ourselves,” said Szpindor, who said getting the house ready for the house tour helps motivate he and his wife to get done early.
“We have a party tonight and everything is already set to go” he said with a laugh.
Sandros Roseo was already set to win when visitors stopped by his twin home at 1206 Queen St. He was in their finished basement watching a soccer match between Milan and Napoli and, at the time a 21st Century Media reporter stopped by, he was disturbed to report that the wrong team was winning.
Upstairs, his wife Rosemary happily explained the things the couple had done to remake their home in a way that took advantage of its history.
Pointing to photos she took before they began renovating and kept on her refrigerator as a reminder, she said “I just went through the house with a paintbrush trying colors until we found what we liked.”
Those who like cookies, or tea, or soup wisely started off their tour at the Elks Club at 61 E. High St. where those tasty treats were served.
And, if you timed your visit just right, you were treated to Christmas Carols by Sound Logic, a Sweet Adeline quartet comprised of Nancy Gauger, Debbie Clay, Honora Leighton and Julie MacGregor.
The quartet traveled along the tour route, stopping in some places to sing and even singing on the move, aboard the trolley that moved visitors from one stop to the next along the route.
Among those enjoying their talents were Dean and Dawn Schlichter from Boyertown.
The couple said they had been on holiday house tours in Boyertown and wanted to see what Pottstown had to offer, although they diplomatically declined to name a favorite.
A regular favorite of every house tour each year is historic Pottsgrove Manor, the home of Pottstown founder and colonial ironmaster, John Potts.
In the kitchen of the home, built in 1752, visitors learned how and what colonials cooked when they entertained for Twelfth Night, which is what culturally English residents like Potts celebrated.
There was music and dancing in the drawing room and crafts and cider in the lecture room.
“I can’t remember the last time we had 400 people, and we still have two hours to go” said Pottsgrove Manor curator Amy Reis, who said this is her 11th year hosting the homes “Pottsgrove by Candlelight” event.
“We had a few years when it either rained very hard or snowed quite a bit, so this is a nice change,” she said.
Main Street Manager Sheila Dugan couldn’t agree more.
“We find that the majority of our ticket sales are on the day of the tour, so it really is kind of weather-dependent,” said Dugan, who is in her second year of organizing the tour and has included her own North Hanover Street home on the list for both years.
“Last year we had a snowstorm and that really killed us, but this year it looks like things really picked up, and that will give us some momentum going in to next year,” she said.
