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The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill's 2004 Holiday House Tour

The UNC President's House at 400 East Franklin Street
in Chapel Hill

A Brief Description of Tour Sites | Those Who Make It Possible

Tickets are on sale now for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill’s 2004 Holiday House Tour, to be held Saturday and Sunday, December 11 and 12, 2004, from 1 to 5 p.m. each day. All of the homes are within easy walking distance on Historic Franklin Street, the main artery through North Carolina’s quintessential college town.

Homes featured on the tour include the 1907 President’s House at 400 East Franklin, the 1856 Tri-Delta House (built originally built by Mr. Sam Phillips at 407 E. Franklin), the 1922 Leavitt-Davies House at 718 East Franklin and the lovely Hooks cottage on the same lot, the 1906 Wheeler Bowers house at 714 East Franklin, the Cobb-McVeigh-Rich-Rubenstein “house with the roses in front” at the corner of Franklin and Boundary, the newly renovated Royster-Umstead-Eyre-Moulton House at 619 E. Franklin, the lovely 1917 bungalow at 707 East Franklin, first home to Vermont Royster, later owned by activist Shirley Marshall and now home to lawyer Bob Epting, and the MacNider-Bason-Lindquist-Mills House, also newly spruced up, at 737 East Franklin Street.

Each of the sites will be decorated to reflect the owners’ personal holiday traditions. In addition to these private residences, The Chapel Hill Museum, the Chapel Hill Historical Society, and the Preservation Society headquarters at the Horace Williams House, will be open to highlight the year-round efforts of these organizations to celebrate and preserve the unique historic character of Chapel Hill.

Tickets for the tour are $20 in advance and may be purchased from the Preservation Society at the Horace Williams House, Womancraft in Meadowmont, University Florist on Franklin Street, Pace at Glen Lennox, A Southern Season at University Mall, the Chapel Hill Museum, the Purple Puddle on Elliot Road, Botanica in University Square, McIntyre’s Fine Books in Fearrington Village, Bloom in Southern Village, and Morgan Imports in Durham. Tickets may be purchased for $25 each on the day of the tour only at the Horace Williams House and the Chapel Hill Museum. Payment for all tickets by check (made payable to the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill) or cash only, please!

The tour has musical and literary as well as historical interest. There will be live performances at many tour locations, including performances on the lovely Steinway piano at the President’s House.

Take home a signed copy!

At the Horace Williams House, tour goers may purchase copies of William Hooks’ The Legend of the Christmas Rose for just $10, with proceeds to benefit the Preservation Society. The book tells the story of a young girl who seeks a gift to show her love for the Christ child and is rewarded by an angel who brings her a beautiful white flower, a gift the holy child chooses over all the riches offered him. The plant of the legend is associated with the helleborus niger, a plant first introduced to Mr. Hooks (718 E. Franklin Street) by his neighbor and fellow tour homeowner, Maryellen Bowers (714 E. Franklin). The plant flourishes at the President’s House at 400 East Franklin. Mr. Hooks will make personal inscriptions in books for those who visit his cottage at 718 East Franklin.

On Sunday, December 12, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., Moreton Neal will be signing copies of her excellent new book Remembering Bill Neal, a combination memoir and cook book celebrating the diversity of chef (and founder of local landmarks La Residence and Crook’s Corner) Bill Neal’s unique personal style.

This tour is an important fund-raising event that sustains the ongoing work of the Preservation Society to protect the built and natural environment of Chapel Hill and is an opportunity for the public to get a look inside some of the loveliest and most significant properties that give our main street its charm and character.

For more information, contact Catherine Frank, executive director, Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, at 919-942-7818.

A Brief Description of Tour Sites | Those Who Make It Possible