Preservation of Historic Winchester – Page 3 – Improving tomorrow by preserving the area's past

Bough & Dough Shop Opens Next Friday!

Time has flown this fall and we’re almost ready for our pop-up holiday boutique to open at the Hexagon House. The PHW Office asks for your patience one more week while we complete our holiday transformation and reopen as the Bough & Dough Shop on Friday, November 17!

Before the Shop opens, you have one more week to enter our “Holiday Doors of Winchester” contest. Deck your door and share a picture on social media tagging PHW. The top three doors will win an amazing prize pack including a “More Doors of Historic Winchester” poster, a Limestone book, a Community Food Store print, postcards, and a pin. Don’t miss out, let your creativity shine! Winners will be announced Nov. 22.

What is the Bough & Dough Shop?

The Shop is a boutique-style holiday gift shop held as part of Preservation of Historic Winchester’s annual Holiday House Tour. We open the Friday before Black Friday to coincide with the start of ticket sales for the Holiday House Tour. This year, the Shop will be open Nov. 17-Dec. 10, from 10 AM – 5 PM Wednesdays-Sundays. You can find the full list of days the Shop is open at Virginia.org or at our Facebook event.

The Bough & Dough Shop stocks delightful decorations, charming ornaments, sweet treats, and unique gifts from local artisans displayed in the theme of an old-fashioned general store. You will also be able to pick up Holiday House Tour tickets and “More Doors of Historic Winchester” posters.

Outside in the Laidlaw Amphitheater, you will find a selection of handmade wreaths and fresh-cut greens for holiday decorating. The shop is constantly replenished with items, so watch our Instagram @boughanddoughshop for new arrivals and updates throughout the event!

The Shop can accept cash, checks, and credit/debit cards for payment.

PHW extends our gratitude to Colony Realty, a full page advertiser in our Holiday House Tour booklet. Sponsorships like this help us to put together the event and make it a success every year. Thank you!

Friday Roundup: Holiday House Tour Is Around the Corner!

This year has flown by, and amazingly we’re almost ready for the start of our Holiday House Tour season with the opening of the Bough & Dough Shop on Nov. 17. If you’ve been anxiously awaiting news of the houses which will be opened for tours on Dec. 3, wait no longer!

We are very excited to offer three homes and one historic office this year:

21 South Loudoun Street
613 South Loudoun Street
101 North Washington Street
400 South Washington Street

We are also thrilled to have a special partnership location this year with Vibrissa Beer & Kitchen at 10 North Kent Street. They have generously offered Holiday House Tour ticket holders a 20% discount on orders when showing their House Tour tickets.

Getting excited? Ticket prices will be $25/person in advance, or $30/person at the door of any of the tour sites. While it currently looks like program booklets may not be available until Nov. 17, we will likely have tickets to our advance sale locations at Kimberly’s and the Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center by Nov. 15 as planned.

Thinking about ordering online in advance? We will be selling the tickets through our online store, also planned to go live around Nov. 15. You can save shipping costs by entering promo code “CURBSIDE” and picking up your tickets at the Bough & Dough Shop in the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St., Wednesdays-Sundays between Nov. 17 and the Sunday of the Holiday House Tour. We’ll also be able to sell tickets to walk-ins at the Shop right up until the House Tour on Sunday.

Once again this year we have to extend our gratitude to the Bank of Clarke County Foundation, which has been a major supporter of the Holiday House Tour. The printing of our program booklets is covered by their sponsorship; we would literally not be able to do the program booklets without their financial support. Thank you!

Happy Halloween!

It’s our last Harvest at the Hexagon House event tonight, 4-6 PM! Grab your costumes and come for one last visit to the Hexagon House in “Fall Mode.” “More Doors of Historic Winchester” posters are available, as well as membership renewal swag items. Trick or treaters can grab candy and explore the first floor of the Hexagon House.

Starting October 30, we’ll be taking the next two weeks to put away fall and transform the Hexagon House into the Bough and Dough Shop. Keep your eyes on our Instagram account to watch our progress and get a sneak peek at the arrivals from our local artisan vendors. We’ll be transformed into holiday mode for the opening of the Shop on November 17!

Halfway to Halloween Is Tonight!

We are at the halfway point in our Harvest at the Hexagon House Friday night celebrations! Stop by our office at the Hexagon House at 530 Amherst St. tonight between 4-6 PM to renew your membership and grab a free gift from the table OR stop in to buy a copy of the new poster “More Doors of Historic Winchester.” Tonight we’re doing a casual costume night – if you feel festive, stop by in your Halloween garb or an ugly fall sweater.

Nest week, on Oct. 27, same time and place, we’ll end our Harvest event with full costumes and a mini trick or treat event for the kids (or kids at heart). Costumes highly encouraged!

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the “More Doors” poster with signatures by the photographers, these two Harvest events will be your last chance – after this no more posters will be signed. Copies without signatures will be available again starting Nov. 17 when the Bough & Dough Shop opens for our holiday season.

If you would like an event more history themed, however, there will be an open house at 115 E. Cecil St., one of the PHW preservation award winning properties from this summer. Stop by between 4-6:30 PM. All history lovers are welcome to see this recently preserved log cabin!

Last but not least, we will be closing out our call for Holiday House Tour sponsorships also at the end of day Oct. 27. Space is still available for the interior booklet (estimate at this point is about two and a half pages left for advertising sponsorships). If you are interested, the sponsor forms are available online here. If you have questions or need help with your ad, drop us a note at phwinc.org@gmail.com.

Hang Out at the Hexagon House

Tonight, Friday the 13th, is our second Harvest at the Hexagon House event, 4-6 PM. Stop by 530 Amherst St. to renew your membership and grab some swag, or pick up a copy or two of “More Doors of Historic Winchester.” Our theme this week is a relaxed hangout – we’ll be in our comfy PHW t-shirts and have some soothing background music going. (Men with hockey masks are politely requested to leave their machetes at home.)

We had a couple people inquire about payment methods. We are able to accept cash, checks, credit/debit cards, and also PayPal/Venmo. For those who remember last year’s Shop, we have a new card reader and tap and chip payments are back. If you’d like to come prepared with cash, the amount per Doors poster with tax is $15.80. Don’t worry, we can also make change – we got our Shop moneybox ready early this year!

Happy Harvest!

Our first Harvest at the Hexagon House is taking place tonight, 4-6 PM at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St. The event is free to attend and open to anyone interested. We encourage those who are up for membership renewal to drop by in person and choose a thank you gift from our selection of items when renewing their membership. And of course, the main draw for tonight’s event is the official launch of the “More Doors of Historic Winchester” poster.

We know a few out of town readers have requested a copy, so to coincide with our launch party, a limited number of posters are available on our online store. We ask that local shoppers refrain from purchasing these copies and instead visit us at the in-person events.

We hope to see many of you over the coming Fridays in October!

Dogwood berries in bright red at the Laidlaw Amphitheater.

Friday Roundup: Door a Day October

October is almost here, and that means it’s almost time for our official launch of the “More Doors of Historic Winchester” poster! To celebrate, PHW’s social media for October (and a little bit of November) will feature a door a day from the poster. You can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, or Mastodon to see the individual photographs used in the creation of the poster.

October also means we start our Harvest at the Hexagon House membership renewal event. We hope to see many of you at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St., between 4-6 PM each Friday in October, either to renew your membership to PHW or to pick up a copy of “More Doors of Historic Winchester.” Our first event is next Friday, October 6. Join us for a relaxed fall party for your first chance to buy a “More Doors of Historic Winchester” poster signed by the photographers. Light refreshments will be available.

For renewals or new membership dues paid at the event, you can pick one item from a table of thank you gifts of books, pins, note cards, and art prints, while supplies last. Dues or poster sales may be made in cash, checks, or credit/debit cards.

We’re ready for Harvest at the Hexagon House!

Friday Roundup: Harvest at the Hexagon and Bough & Dough Shop Artists

We’re excited to bring back a classic PHW event of yesteryear in a new format! Visit the PHW Office at 530 Amherst St. Friday afternoons in October to join or renew your membership and receive a thank you gift for free! Items include pins, small posters, books, and more—while supplies last!

Our first Friday event will also feature the public launch party of “More Doors of Winchester” poster sales. Stop by to pick up your copy for $15 plus tax. The photographers will be on hand if you’d like your copy signed!

Mark your calendars for October 6, October 13, October 20, and October 27 between 4-6 PM at the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst St. for four afternoons of fall fun!

We are also pleased to announce our selection of artists for the 2023 Bough & Dough Shop:

Angel’s Roost Quilts
Blooming Hill Lavender Farm and Gift Shop
Nina Burke
Lorraine Candell
Capers in Crochet
The Card Shop Bakers
George Davis
Double D’s Bees
Eye of the Needle Embroidery
Gustafson Glass
Hailewatercolors
Heathen Works
Dave Hickman
J&W Farm
Susan Keenan
Lighthouse Woodworking
The Merry Beader
Ornamentally Creative
Libba Pendleton
Very Merry Mittens
Waterlilly

The Shop this year will be held Wednesdays-Sundays at the Hexagon House, November 17-December 10, 10 AM-5 PM. To coincide with some other holiday events happening in Winchester, the Bough & Dough Shop is rolling with a theme of an old fashioned general store this year. We hope to have fantastic products as well as a fun visual experience for shoppers. We’re also excited to test out our Laidlaw Amphitheater space for our greenery and wreath sales – hopefully there will be a little less bending down to pick your boughs this year. Look for more information as we move into November!

Friday Roundup: Blight and Bough & Dough Shop Updates

411 S. Loudoun‘s demolition request to the BAR was concluded yesterday, after the brief hiatus in August for a status report with the court. While a potential buyer was interested in purchasing and rehabbing the property, the owners were unwilling to entertain the idea of a sale. Given the very unusual nature of this request, the BAR members voted to abstain from ruling on this demolition, as no alternate path could be found. Both the 514-520 S. Loudoun townhouses and 411 S. Loudoun will likely be demolished before the end of this year.

Discussion after the meeting included the situation at 137 S. Loudoun, which is also a blighted structure. BAR members are concerned about a potential loss of another salvageable building. In this case, the current owner is willing to sell, the property is listed for sale, and much site plan work has already been completed and a facade restoration plan was previously approved at BAR (which will transfer to a new owner). We will encourage our readership who may be interested in rehabbing a building to investigate this structure.

We would also like to extend our thanks to the artists who have applied to the Bough & Dough Shop. We plan to send out the acceptance letters with individualized recommendations for products starting Tuesday, Sept. 12 – if you applied but don’t hear from us by email on Friday, Sept. 15, please reach out to us at phwinc.org@gmail.com.

For our usual shoppers, it looks like we will have a good mix of new and returning artists. We’re looking forward to sharing our artist lineup in next Friday’s dispatch!