Author: PHW

The Winchester Little Theatre
315 W. Boscawen St.
Chairman: Jim Carter
Shop Co-Chairs: Darla McCrary and Debra L. Johnson
The Winchester Little Theatre is the site of the Bough and Dough Shop.
The Shop offers fresh cut greenery—including boxwood, magnolia, and holly—for your holiday decorating. Baked goods and handcrafts from local artists are available for gift-giving. This year’s lineup includes Jackie Tobin with old fashioned hand crafted ornaments, crafts, and jellies; Sharon Boggs of The Potomac Bead Company with jewelry; Lin Hausknecht with handmade pottery; Kathy Manuel with historic building hand painted ornaments; and other locally made items like soap, jellies, and potpourri. Winchester Little Theatre will also have gift certificates available for sale during the Shop hours.

Be sure to stop by the Shop from 10 AM-5 PM on December 3 and noon-5 PM on December 4 for a jump on your holiday shopping and decorating needs. Last minute advance tickets can also be purchased at the Shop. Don’t forget your complimentary hot chocolate and cider!

The theatre occupies a former Pennsylvania Railroad freight depot built circa 1890. The hipped roof over the brick exterior provides cover for the freight loading dock. The interior was modified to accommodate live theatre performances by the Winchester Little Theatre. They moved into their railway home in 1974 and have provided critically acclaimed professional-quality live theatre to the community ever since.  The current season has had two runaway hits, “The 39 Steps” and “The Foreigner”, and is on track to set new records for audience enjoyment in 2012.

Winchester Little Theatre is also spearheading the volunteer carolers in period costume for this year’s musical entertainment. Look for the carolers at the Preview Party on Saturday evening and during the tour on Sunday. For more information on how to volunteer to carol, call 540-662-3331 and leave a message.

Click here for the story on the carolers by Charlotte Eller in the Winchester Star (login required).

The Lewis Jones Knitting Mill
120-126 North Kent St.
Chairmen: John Barker and Richie Pifer, Jr.
The Lewis Jones Knitting Mill was constructed in 1895 for the production of cotton knit goods. Founded by Lewis Jones, Sr. of Philadelphia and Albert Baker of Winchester, it was the only cotton mill in Winchester. The rehabilitation of the Late Victorian-era brick building by Oakcrest was based around preserving the original brick and timber construction structure. All interior and exterior brick and wood timbers were restored to their natural finish.

The Knitting Mill will be open only on Saturday evening 6-9 p.m. as the site of the Preview Party. Costumed carolers from the Winchester Little Theatre will enliven the party with seasonal music. Make sure you RSVP by 12/2/2011 to join the fun!

204 South Loudoun St.
Red Lion Tavern
House Chairmen: Richard Bell
The Georgian-style limestone tavern known as the Red Lion was constructed circa 1783 by Peter Lauck, a member of Morgan’s Riflemen. Peter Lauck and his wife Amelia, known as “Mother Lauck,” kept the Red Lion Tavern from 1783 to 1831. Peter Lauck sold the tavern to his son Issac in 1831 and retired to his home “Edgehill” at the end of Cork Street. However, he did not stay in retirement long, buying the property back from Issac three years later and living here until his death in 1839, with Amelia following him in 1842.

The property was purchased from the Lauck heirs by John Fagan in 1842. Fagan came from Ireland in 1819 by way of Quebec, Canada, traveling south through Pennsylvania before finally arriving in Winchester in 1840. Fagan founded the first marble yard in the Valley here; five generations of his descendants continued the business until the building was sold in 1991 to the Virginia Historic Preservation Foundation, now part of Preservation Virginia.

The building retains a remarkable level of interior integrity, including the wide plank floors, the enormous kitchen fireplace, a moveable interior wall in the second-story ballroom, paneled mantels, early decorative hinges and pintles, and unique flying buttresses.

If you fall in love with the Red Lion Tavern while on the tour, you’re in luck! The building is currently for sale, ready for a new owner to put the building to use again.

126 South Loudoun St.
Hill’s Keep
House Chairmen: Jimmy Stewart and Emily Skiles
This vernacular limestone dwelling was constructed circa 1810. The deeply recessed wood door is flanked by 6/6, double-hung, wood-sash windows with wood sills and board-and-batten wood shutters typical of the period. The building, originally part of the Red Lion Tavern complex, has served as an ice cream factory, candy store, dwelling, printing shop, and the office of Preservation of Historic Winchester. It is currently the office of Winchester Storm. The building was moved from its original location at 8 East Cork Street in 2004.

142 West Boscawen St.
Christ Episcopal Church
House Chairman: Chris Ferguson
Christ Episcopal Church has been in continuous use as a sacred site in Winchester since its construction in 1828. The Gothic Revival-style building is dominated by the three-story bell tower crowned with finials and quatrefoil balustrades. A pointed-arch accented with a flower motif surrounds the double-leaf paneled wood doors. Of particular interest and beauty are the stained glass windows, installed in the late 19th century by the Gernhart Company of Baltimore.

Before entering the church, visit the side yard which contains the tomb of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia. The original church building was situated at the corner of Loudoun and Boscawen Streets on land given by Lord Fairfax. In 1827, the Parish took the name Christ Church and began the relocation process to the present location on Boscawen Street. The fashionable new church was built with the proceeds of the sale of the original church.

The interior of the church is lined with plaques commemorating rectors and parishioners from the 18th to 20th centuries. In the chancel, a glass top case holds silver and pewter pieces; one of the oldest being a pewter communion cup inscribed “Frederick Parish 1746.”

Visit Christ Episcopal Church online for more information about their history and parish programs at www.christchurchwinchester.org. Further history may be obtained from the book The History of Christ Church, Frederick Parish, by Katherine L. Brown, et. al., available at the Handley Regional Library.

109 Amherst St.
House Chairman: Thomas “Wilke” Green
This charming office was once part of the Federal-style dwelling facing North Braddock Street erected circa 1820 by Samuel Brown. From 1856 until the Civil War, the building was home to a school for girls run by Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Powell. The ell containing 109 Amherst Street was later converted to a single-family dwelling. The whimsical asymmetry of the façade draws the eye to the single-leaf, paneled wood door flanked by five-light sidelights.

106 North Washington St.
House Chairman: Mark Lore
Constructed in stages from the early 19th century on, the present house is the home of Harry and Debbie Smith. Its external appearance is typical of late 19th century Victorian remodeling with German wood siding, bracketed eaves, and a center gable highlighted with fish scale wood shingles. A half-hipped porch roof supported by fluted Tuscan wood columns covers the front entry.

The paneled wood front door with lights, topped by a three-light wood transom, opens to an entry hall with living room to the north and family/sitting room to the south. Continuing through the family room leads you to leading to the dining room, which is the site of the original small stone dwelling on this lot that was built in the early 1800s. The stairways, mantels and pine flooring are original elements from the 19th century enlargement of the house.

Harry and Debbie Smith were honored with a PHW Award of Merit in 2009 for the renovation of their home, which including stripping the pebbledash stucco siding from the exterior to reveal the original wood siding beneath. Before you enter this home on the tour, be sure to note the slightly asymmetrical facade that resulted from the expansion of two bays to the north.

302 West Boscawen Street
House Chairman: Bruce Downing
The professional office of J. Douglas McCarthy & Associates is constructed in the Queen Anne style with Eastlake influences. Below the spired slate roof and ornamented eaves, a porch supported by chamfered posts leads to the double-leaf front door.Through the front door, guests are greeted in the entry hall by a classic gilded female figure atop a tall incised oak newel post. Her upraised arms support a milk glass globe lighting the oak staircase with its turned double balusters and wide gradual steps.

Flanking the entry hall are double oak doors leading to the parlor and the dining room. Both rooms are lit by front rectangular bays with floor- to-ceiling 2/4 sash windows. The parlor is highlighted by a grand walnut over-mantel with beveled mirrors backing bric-a-brac shelves. The dining room fireplace mantel, though less ornamental, is carved with turnings and simplified geometric designs in the English tradition of Charles Locke Eastlake. The carvings of this mantel repeat the design of the front double doors.

This engaging structure is located on the site of the Winchester Medical College. The first College opened in 1827 but was closed shortly after. The second attempt in 1847 proved more successful and the College remained in operation until the beginning of the Civil War. The buildings were put to the torch in 1862 by Union General Nathaniel Banks as retaliation for the dissection of cadavers from John Brown’s Raid. Charles L. Crum subsequently purchased the lot to construct his residence, the current building, in 1881.

While we wait for tickets to go on sale later this month, PHW will be releasing information on the tour stops for this year’s event on December 3 and 4. We have a fabulous selection of homes, offices, and sacred sites for you to visit this year.

324 West Boscawen Street
The Cabell House
House Chairman: Patrick Farris
This Late Federal-style dwelling was built for Mrs. Elizabeth W. Cabell around 1843. The clean lines of the facade are accented with rosetted corner blocks on the window lintels. Delicate fluted columns in the manner of Minard Lefever surround the front entrance.

The stately symmetry of the Federal Style exterior is seen in the two parlor rooms flanking the entry hall with its main staircase composed of delicately turned balusters and a boxy, geometric patterned newel post.

Large 5-paneled doors with box locks open into each room with classical fireplaces made with Winchester knife-shelf mantels supported by Tuscan columns. In the center of one fireplace is a carved classical urn panel and on the other is an American eagle in profile. The west room has a cast iron decorative stove insert.

This home is featured in Garland R. Quarles’ book The Story of One Hundred Old Homes in Winchester, Virginia. If you fall in love with this property on the tour, it is currently for sale, just waiting for a new owner to use the building for office space or convert it back to residential use.