The East Row Historic Foundation presents its 14th Annual Victorian Christmas Tour on Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 1-2, 2007, in Newport. The tour runs from noon to 6 p.m. each day in the East Row Historic District, the second largest local historic district in Kentucky.
The tour will showcase seven historic homes decorated for the holidays along with the newly renovated Carnegie Event Center and Ohio River Museum, originally the Newport Public Library and later the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Public Library. The Carnegie, originally the Newport Public Library completed in 1902, was one of 1,679 public library buildings throughout the United States built with funds from Andrew Carnegie, renowned steel baron and philanthropist.
Now owned by David Hosea, the library has been transformed into a magical place
designed with antiques and vintage furnishings, dramatic window treatments and
whimsical, beautiful objects and art. The former library is now home to a formal
ballroom, tearoom and gaming room with a railroad theme.
After touring the library, visitors can view the homes in the East Row historic
neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The
homes all reflect Victorian style architecture, specifically Queen Anne and
Italianate styles, with ornate details such as artistic stained glass windows,
patterned masonry and carved stone ornamentation. Some interiors feature ornately
carved staircases, plaster ceiling medallions and pocket doors. Six of the seven
homes have never been open to the public. Two were on the 2007 East Row Garden
Walk.
The seventh, on tour as a result of public request, is owned by Curtis L. Heuser, an artist, interior designer and author of the new book, Your Home: A Living Canvas (North Light Books), which features murals, trompe l'oeil and faux finishes in his own Victorian home. The Heuser home was among those on the Victorian Christmas Tour in 2005, but the interior was not completed.
Among additional tour highlights:
• A collection of musical instruments — some vintage — on
display in a circa 1880 Italianate home owned by a professor of music.
• A collection of non-traditional, colorful nativity scenes in another
home that features contemporary-style interiors in apricot, pink, royal blue
and green and described as a “funky mix.” The Queen Anne home was
built circa 1894 for Charles Willis of the Willis Music Co.
• Carriage rides in a white pumpkin-shaped wrought iron carriage available
for an extra charge.
For the convenience of visitors, a shuttle bus will make periodic stops along the tour route throughout the hours of the tour. Restrooms will be available along the route, too. Although the East Row Historic District may be easily maneuvered by wheelchairs, the homes on the tour are not handicapped accessible.
Tickets, which are $15 per person, may be purchased at The Carnegie Event
Center, 401 Monmouth St., during tour hours. Children under the age of 12, when
accompanied by an adult, will be admitted free. Advanced tickets may also be
purchased online — here at the web site — or at the following Newport
shops: Kentucky Haus, 411 E. 10th St., and The Galleries Together, 701 Park
Ave. PURCHASE
TICKETS
Directions to the Carnegie Event Center: From I-471: Take Exit 4 West (KY 1120
-10th Street). Continue West to Monmouth Street (US 27). Turn right and continue
6 blocks to 401 Monmouth.
You may park behind Pizzazz Interiors at 421 Monmouth Street at no charge in order to pick up your tickets. (Turn right onto 5th Street for entrance into the parking lot on your left.) If you choose to remain parked behind Pizzazz during the tour, you will be able to pay a reduced rate of $3 for the day. The reduced rate of $3 also applies to the Peace Bell parking lot (across Monmouth Street) as well as the lot at Fourth Street Elementary School (NE corner of 4th and Monmouth Streets). You will need to obtain the pass for the $3 parking at the time you pick up your tickets and place it on your dashboard before departing for the tour.
Free parking is also available at the lot at the SE corner of 5th Street and Washington Avenue and also at St. John’s United Church of Christ parking lot at 4th and Park Avenue.
A portion of the proceeds will go toward Echo, which operates the Henry Hosea House, a non-profit soup kitchen in Newport. The agency serves 250 persons daily.
