The Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce's Holiday House Tour, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m., to 4 p.m., is a great chance to peek inside six spectacular homes in North Haven and Wallingford and help two worthy causes at the same time.
The event is sponsored by Fish Window Cleaning, and the houses are sponsored and will be decorated and hosted by several area businesses, including Prudential Connecticut Realty, Quinnipiac Bank, Calcagni Realty/Attorney Lars Edeen, H. Pearce Real Estate, Keller Williams Realty, Harriman Real Estate, Patti Stern of PJ & Company Home Styling, LLC, and Boardman Silversmiths to name a few.
Some agencies will also have the assistance of home stagers/interior designers. Wallingford Flower Shoppe and Forget Me Not Flowers in North Haven will be providing floral arrangements and Home Depot, Lowe's and Kinamor Manufacturing will also be donating items.
Event co-chair Dee Nesti said that about 10 years ago the chamber staged a tulip house tour in the spring. She said this year they decided to do a holiday-themed tour to give local real estate agencies a chance to show off their decorating skills.
"All of the interior of the homes will be beautifully decorated," Nesti said. They range from historic, beautiful homes to grand mansions. We reached out to major real estate agencies and their decotraors and designers are each taking a home – they do the decorating."
The admission price of $20 for all six houses is a great deal, Nesti noted, and the money raised will benefit the chamber, which is a nonprofit.
In addition, a portion of the proceeds will be a scholarship to an art student at one of these high schools: Choate Rosemary, Sheehan, Lyman Hall or North Haven. The chamber asked the art departments at the schools if students would draw the homes and they were inundated with works of art. Nesti said there were so many great portraits of the homes submitted that they will be displayed at Wallingford Library.
The six incredible homes that will be decorated for the holidays are:
- 24 Academy St, Wallingford (The Samuel Lewis Home),
- 6 Stoney Brook Rd, Wallingford,
- 1 Wheatfield Rd, Wallingford,
- 777 Mount Carmel Rd, North Haven,
- 1 Old Tavern Rd, North Haven (The Rising Sun Tavern) and
- 410 Williams Road, Wallingford
On the day of the tour, you can start at any one of the homes (a list of addresses will accompany your tickets). When you get to your first home, you will be greeted by a representative of the sponsoring real estate agency and receive a program for the event. At each home, you will receive a stamp on your program and at the end of the day if you have visited all homes you will be entered into a drawing for a weekend away in New England (place TBD)!
The Wallingford Historical Society will be open that day as well, and will be offering refreshments and tours, Nesti said.
For more information, contact the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce at (203) 269-9891. Tickets are $20 per person and are available at the
Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce _office located at 100 So. Turnpike Road in Wallingford, and the Real Estate Agencies listed above.
For more information, contact the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce at (203) 269-9891, or visit our website at quinncham.com
