NEWBERRY — The Newberry County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Tour of Homes is Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and includes four homes and a church.
This is the fifth year the Chamber has held the Christmas Tour of Homes, according to Michelle Long, executive director of the Chamber. The Chamber conducted the Tour years ago, but stopped. After that the Opera House Guild took it over, and they returned it to the Chamber in 2012.
“Last year we tested the Tour of Homes in the country, but this year we decided to bring it back into town,” said Liz MacDonald, Chamber administrator.
MacDonald begins working on the Tour of Homes a year in advance so she can line up locations. She is already working on next year’s tour.
“We have had a really good response this year from the community, as far as opening their homes,” she said.
MacDonald said the newest home on the tour is the Goeckner House, built in 1987, and the oldest house is Coastwood, built in 1841 and owned by Cile and Richard “Dick” Hursey.
“I think Newberry is such a historical town, and that is what we are known for, and most of these houses are historic homes. Even the new house, built in 1987, has special things. It is on three acres with a beautiful pond and lights,” she said.
Goeckner Home on Wallace Street
This home features a great room with a cathedral ceiling and arched floor to ceiling windows. The Goeckners are known for their light display.
Newberry Manor on College Street
This high-Victorian home was built in 1895 by Cam Davis. Robert Downs Wright was the owner of the home and he married twice, Alice Day from 1890 until her death in 1897 and then to Eloise Welch in 1900. The Manor features a wrap around porch and three story “tower.” Today the Manor serves as a bed and breakfast.
Coatswood on Boundary Street
The Greek revival style mansion was built by Chancellor Job Johnstone and owned by the Johnstone family for more than 100 years. The current residents are only the third family to own the property. The interior is noted for its 11 foot ceilings and plaster crown moldings. Heart pine flooring, as well as the massive doors, were likely cut from wood on the acreage originally attached to the property. The symmetrical floor plan, designed in the style for which Robert Mills is known, further enhances the detailing on the woodwork surrounding doors and windows in each room. Decorations for the most part follow the period when the home was built.
Purcell Blackwell House on Main Street
This home, designed and constructed by Cam Davis, was completed in 1888 for the Purcell Family and is a Low Country raised cottage style. This home features 14 fireplaces with a grand entrance hall measuring 72 feet long by 14 feet wide with an Adamesque fireplace.
The Purcell family raised 10 children in the home before selling it to the Blackwells, who installed the original Czechoslovakian chandelier in the dining room. The current owners found the original paint below layers of plaster and have left the walls to tell the story of the families that came before them.
ARP Church of Newberry on Main Street
The Gothic revival sanctuary was designed by Frank Pierce Milburn and built by Cam Davis in 1907. The stained glass windows and pews are original to the church. The 548-pipe Felgemaker organ, still in use, was installed in 1908 and refurbished in 2008.
The congregation was established in 1850 as the Thompson Street ARP Church and when it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1907, the congregation moved to the current location. The pulpit and side chairs used today were rescued from the fire.
“It will be very interesting to see the differences in the Victorian Newberry Manor, in the way it is decorated and then the Purcell-Blackwell House. Decorations will be entirely different for each house, and the furnishings will be different for each house,” MacDonald said. “Newberry Manor is very Victorian, Coatswood will be very period decorated as far as the way it would have been decorated in the 1800s.”
Three of the homes and the church are located downtown. The Goeckner Home on Wallace Street is in the Loblolly neighborhood across from Newberry High School. The church will provide refreshments during the Tour.
Visitors can begin with any home they choose.
Tickets are $20, and can be purchased at the Chamber or at the Opera House. Tickets will include a description of each house and a map, and as visitors go from house to house, a representative will check off that location.
“This is a great kick off for the Christmas season. It gets you in the holiday mood. You see the lights and it inspires you to do more at your own home,” MacDonald said.
