Step inside Olympia’s historic homes decked in holiday decor for weekend tour
For $35 a ticket, folks will have the opportunity to step inside some of Olympia’s historic homes and learn more about the city’s history and how homeowners have transformed some of the most iconic buildings downtown.
The annual Holiday Historic Home Tour is this Sunday, Dec. 14, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event is presented by the Olympia Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum. You can purchase tickets on the Historical Society’s website.
Greg Griffith, one of the society’s trustees, told The Olympian on Dec. 11 that the tour will include five privately-owned homes, with three of them in the Olympia Avenue Historic District. Attendees will also be able to step inside the Bigelow House Museum, and see the newly-renovated Olympia Women’s Clubhouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Griffith said the home tour has been occurring around the holidays since the 1980s. He said scheduling the event in December seemed appropriate, because many homeowners decorate their homes for the winter holidays. He figured it’d be a good time for people to open up their homes for folks to see, and it gets people into the holiday spirit.
Griffith said they’ve always found that there’s a good turnout and interest during the holiday season.
He said the event is an opportunity to not just see the city’s historic homes, inside and out, but also to learn about their history and how things have changed over time. He said it’s interesting to see how people have adapted their historic homes for their modern uses and conveniences.
“Families’ tastes change and adapt over the generations,” Griffith said. “It’s also an opportunity for people to kind of learn about the background of the neighborhoods in which our home tours are hosted, so they will see various architectural styles that have been constructed in the community since the late 19th century, well up into the mid 20th century.”
Griffith said there will be docents in the home along with the homeowners, who can share their knowledge and insights on the history of the home. They can also give pointers on repairs and restoration efforts.
“And we hope that people will kind of recognize that in their own homes, they will be able to appreciate the historic character of their own homes and preserve their homes accordingly,” he said.
Griffith said the event is also a fundraiser for the Historical Society & Bigelow House Museum. He said ticket sales are a major source of income for them to be able to operate, restore and preserve the Bigelow House, and sustain programming.
Griffith said the Olympia Women’s Club, located in the Abigail Stuart House at 1002 Washington St. SE, will serve as a station for folks to purchase tickets, use the restroom and get refreshments. He said members of the Women’s Club will also be available to give tours of the newly restored clubhouse.
“The members of the Women’s Club are very proud of their historic property, and they’re so willing and anxious to share it with the public to sort of show off what they’ve done, and they’ve recently done quite a bit of renovation and rehabilitation,” he said.
There will also be historic Olympia memorabilia and work from Eco Woodworks, a Tumwater-based woodworking company that preserves historic properties.
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