HHS Hosts 26th Annual Holiday Homes Tour
The Harrodsburg Historical Society’s (HHS) 26th Annual Holiday Homes Tour kicks off Saturday, Dec. 2, from 1-7 p.m. with an exciting and interesting line up. Attendees this year will be getting a special treat in the Shaker Tavern Farm House, which will be making its tour debut.
“I’ve volunteered and I’ve been a host, but this is the first year we’ve had a house on it,” said property owner Rob Magrish. “I believe this is the first time this house has ever been open to the public.”
The Shaker Tavern Farm House, nestled in one of the curves on U.S. 68 just past Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, is believed to have been built in the mid-1830s. Local historian Amalie Preston is still working on locating the deed for the property, but said it was built by a Shaker craftsman. “You can tell that by the bricks of the chimney, they are Shaker bricks,” Preston said. “They made their bricks with a cup in them so you could get more mortar and hold together longer.”
The Magrish family purchased the home in 2004 and immediately went to work.
“The back wing had some serious structure issues, but otherwise it was in pretty great original shape,” Magrish said.
The Cincinnati native knows historical homes. He studied architecture at the University of Kentucky and earned his masters in historic preservation. He also has done additional programs in New York City and England.
“Right now I’m a consultant primarily for historic house museums, working with them on various restoration projects or reinterpretation or things like that,” he said.
The Shaker House, located at 4236 Lexington Road, still has its original floors and original mantles. Magrish said many of the windows, doors and stairway are original as well. “Where we had to replace stuff, we tried to do it as close to the original as possible,” he said. “We kept everything we could that was original, but we did decide to have indoor plumbing, things like that. We didn’t need to be that authentic.”
Tickets for the Holiday Homes Tour can be purchased at the HHS
The Shaker Tavern Farm House, located at 4236 Lexington Road, is one of the houses featured in this year’s Holiday Homes Tour.
While much of the Shaker Tavern House is original, this front door knocker is a replica of the original.
or any of the other seven stops including the Edward Jones building located at 130 Mooreland Ave, the Ingerson House located at 432 Beaumont Avenue, the Shewmaker house located at 1211 Perryville Road, the Scomp House at Glenriver Farm located at 266 Dry Branch Road, the Old Mud Meeting House located at 730 Dry Branch Road, the Joseph Morgan House located at 1060 Industry Road and the Old Harrodsburg High School located at 371 East Lexington Street. Tickets are $15 and $11 for seniors and groups of 20.
The HHS will also be hosting the Tea Room Friday, Dec. 1, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(Editor’s Note: The Scomp House and Glenriver Farm will be in the Nov. 23 edition of The Harrodsburg Herald)
