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By Heather Stauffer/a>, Sentinel Reporter, November 28, 2008

One home has a nine-hole putting green in the basement.

Another boasts four fireplaces.

And the church has three “Old World”-style worship areas that face Jerusalem.

The three are just part of the variety of local architecture that will be on display during Cumberland County Historical Society’s 13th Holiday House Tour from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7. This year’s tour will give participants a chance to visit seven homes and one church.

“It’s going to be very nice,” said society spokeswoman Kim Laidler. “There is such a diverse selection of homes. In age and in style they’re just really all outstanding.”

The society holds the tour as a fund-raiser every other year, Laidler said, and as always, it will be self-guided.

“You can start anywhere and end up anywhere,” she said. The homes are clumped across three basic areas — Carlisle, Boiling Springs and South Middleton Township — and Laidler explained that participants will receive maps to those three areas when they purchase tickets.

Featured

One traditional-style home, built in 2006, features Southern overtones in a wooded mountain setting.

A formal area flanks its foyer, and a large gourmet kitchen hearth room is situated in the back of the house.

A five-bedroom Cape Cod built in 1999 has been completely remodeled by the present owners, including exterior additions that overlook the picturesque South Mountain.

The owners of cottage built in the 1950s renovated it into a more modern traditional home while preserving the original craftsman prairie theme.

Squire Jacob C. Lehman built a late Victorian-style home in the heart of Boiling Springs in 1890, and a total restoration and addition completed in 2006 maintained much of the original woodwork and doors.

Founded in 1973, the Pillars of Orthodoxy Church built at its present location in 1999 to meet the needs of its growing congregation.

Two new wings were completed this year, and icons adorn the building, with the interior differing little from an Old-World style.

“It has frescos made by nuns of the Holy Nativity convent in Boston,” Laidler said. “All the worship areas are illuminated with olive oil lamps.”

One town home is newer than most buildings in the tour — it was built in the 1990s — but is filled with family antiques dating back four generations.

The home with the four fireplaces is a brick, Colonial-style Cape Cod with hardwood floors. It is a near replica of the original owner’s family home, which was the old Hays mansion.

And finally, the home with the putting green was originally built in the 1950s and reflects the past four owners. It features a large kitchen and great room, outdoor living spaces and garden paths.

Details

“People seem to go in groups,” Laidler said, pointing out that when she has helped with the tour in the past, she has seen lots of couples and groups of five or six. So, she said, this year the society is giving a fifth ticket free to anyone who purchases four.

Organizers ask participants not to wear high heels and to leave baby strollers outside the featured homes, Laidler said.

Both the society at 21 N. Pitt St., Carlisle, and History on High — The Shop, 33 W. High St., Carlisle, will open Dec. 7 before the tour begins so people can purchase tickets if they need to, Laidler said. And, she said, the church and the society will serve as “comfort stations” for participants, offering rest room facilities.