Smethport Garden Club
Presents Victorian Mansion Tour
On Saturday, October 2nd, from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m., visitors will be able to experience Smethport’s opulent past by going inside the history-rich homes built by elite entrepreneurs, bankers and politicians of the Victorian era.
The self-paced Tour of Homes, sponsored by the Smethport Garden Club, includes the following highlights …
Walk through the oldest home on the tour − State Senator Byron Delano Hamlin’s immaculately preserved Italianate mansion built in 1856.
~~ See the fabulously restored Queen Anne mansion built by Horace Hamlin Redfield in 1900.
~~ Visit the dramatically redecorated Elizabethan home built by Judge Joseph Bouton in 1905.
~~ Check out the beginning stages of a massive restoration of the Henry Hamlin mansion built in 1868.
~~ Trek through the spacious Orlo James Hamlin mansion, once operated as a B&B known as the Christmas Inn.
~~ Wend your way through Hamlin-McCandless Mansion built in 1891, now a popular up-scale B&B called Mansion District Inn Suites.
~~ View the Delano R. Hamlin house, currently operated as a B&B, to see what a Victorian “cottage” looked like in 1875.
Home owners will be on hand to greet visitors and share little known folklore about the homes and their original owners. Judge Joseph Bouton, for example, is said to have lost his mansion in a card game to next door neighbor State Senator Horace Hamlin Redfield, who let the Judge stew awhile before selling it back for $1.
Another story concerns the Orlo James Hamlin mansion completed in 1900. John Heber McCandless radically enlarged his own home next door to please his wife Emma, ensuring that it would have proper proportions next to her brother’s new home.
The tour includes Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, built by famed architect William Halsey Wood in 14th century English Gothic style. Also on the tour is the The Country Porch café, once occupied by H. C. Wells Drugs in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Both locations are designated as comfort zones during the tour. Free refreshments will be served at St. Luke’s, and the Country Porch will give a free gift to all Tour of Homes ticket holders.
The bi-annual Tour of Homes is sponsored by the Smethport Garden Club. The keepsake ticket/brochure, available for a $10 donation, contains a tour map, plus information about each location. Tickets may be picked up at Lindgren’s Variety Store, The Smethport Visitors Center, the Route 6 Diner, or at any of the homes on the tour.
The Smethport Garden Club was founded in 1978. Now in its 32nd year, the club continues its core mission of promoting gardening, providing educational services, and enhancing the beauty of the community.
Pictured, State Senator Byron Delano Hamlin’s home; the interior of one of the mansions; and the home of Orlo James Hamlin.
Photos courtesy of the Smethport Garden Club
The self-paced Tour of Homes, sponsored by the Smethport Garden Club, includes the following highlights …
Walk through the oldest home on the tour − State Senator Byron Delano Hamlin’s immaculately preserved Italianate mansion built in 1856.
~~ See the fabulously restored Queen Anne mansion built by Horace Hamlin Redfield in 1900.~~ Visit the dramatically redecorated Elizabethan home built by Judge Joseph Bouton in 1905.
~~ Check out the beginning stages of a massive restoration of the Henry Hamlin mansion built in 1868.
~~ Trek through the spacious Orlo James Hamlin mansion, once operated as a B&B known as the Christmas Inn.
~~ Wend your way through Hamlin-McCandless Mansion built in 1891, now a popular up-scale B&B called Mansion District Inn Suites.
~~ View the Delano R. Hamlin house, currently operated as a B&B, to see what a Victorian “cottage” looked like in 1875.
Home owners will be on hand to greet visitors and share little known folklore about the homes and their original owners. Judge Joseph Bouton, for example, is said to have lost his mansion in a card game to next door neighbor State Senator Horace Hamlin Redfield, who let the Judge stew awhile before selling it back for $1.
Another story concerns the Orlo James Hamlin mansion completed in 1900. John Heber McCandless radically enlarged his own home next door to please his wife Emma, ensuring that it would have proper proportions next to her brother’s new home.The tour includes Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, built by famed architect William Halsey Wood in 14th century English Gothic style. Also on the tour is the The Country Porch café, once occupied by H. C. Wells Drugs in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Both locations are designated as comfort zones during the tour. Free refreshments will be served at St. Luke’s, and the Country Porch will give a free gift to all Tour of Homes ticket holders.
The bi-annual Tour of Homes is sponsored by the Smethport Garden Club. The keepsake ticket/brochure, available for a $10 donation, contains a tour map, plus information about each location. Tickets may be picked up at Lindgren’s Variety Store, The Smethport Visitors Center, the Route 6 Diner, or at any of the homes on the tour.
The Smethport Garden Club was founded in 1978. Now in its 32nd year, the club continues its core mission of promoting gardening, providing educational services, and enhancing the beauty of the community.
Pictured, State Senator Byron Delano Hamlin’s home; the interior of one of the mansions; and the home of Orlo James Hamlin.
Photos courtesy of the Smethport Garden Club
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