Our house is a sight to see, but the best time of year to visit is during the holidays when we’ve decked the halls. The same is true for many of St. Louis’ other fine historic homes, and here’s your chance to see six spectacular old buildings when they are at their festive best.
For one night only on November 29th, 2012 from 3-8 PM, you will have a chance to see Campbell House Museum, The Eugene Field House, The Chatillon-DeMenil House, The Old Courthouse, and the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Tower Grove House and their hardly-ever-open-to-the-public Museum Building, each decked out in their seasonal finery. We usually do this every other year, but we had so much fun last year we’ve decided to try it on an annual basis. This really is one of Campbell House’s favorite events.
Each stop along the tour will feature holiday treats, warm drinks and regular performances of scenes from “A Christmas Carol” by actors from ETC Senior Theatre Company. Many of the locations have gift shops, so you can get a head start on holiday shopping. To round out the evening, a buffet dinner will be offered at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sassafras Café, which will feature a selection of comfort foods, including Homestyle Meatloaf with Wild Missouri Mushroom Gravy, Chicken Paprikash with Rustic Dumplings, Baked Ziti with Spinach, Basil & Fresh Local Mozzarella, side dishes, and an assortment of mini desserts and cookies.
Participants can tour the locations on chartered buses that will shuttle them to the next stop, or they may opt to take a self-guided tour. To purchase tour tickets, call us at 314/421-0325, or click here to buy tickets online.
Guided Bus Transportation tickets: $30.00 in advance, $40.00 the day of the event. Price includes admission to all six locations, bus transportation and free parking.
Self-Guided tickets: $20.00 in advance, $30.00 the day of the event. Price includes admission to all six locations and limited free parking.
If you would like to make reservations for dinner at Sassafras Café at the Missouri Botanical Garden, please call the café directly at 314/577-0200. The buffet is $14.95 per person, and beer, wine and cocktails will be available for purchase.
So how does the tour work?
- Buy your ticket online or purchase over the phone by calling us at 314/421-0325.
- On the day of the event, start at whichever venue you would like. All sites have the reservation list. If you opted for the bus ticket, we recommend you start at Campbell House, Eugene Field House or the Missouri Botanical Garden because those sites have the largest parking lots.
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The dining table. Check in at your first stop, and you’ll be given a lanyard that serves as admission to each site and, for bus riders, it serves as your bus pass. For guests doing the self-guided tour, you will be given a map to each location at check-in.
- The event is from 3-8 PM, but there isn’t a rigorous schedule. The buses are running in a loop, constantly shuttling guests from one stop to the next. You should only have to wait a few minutes (if at all) to catch a bus to get to the next stop along the way. You can spend as much or as little time at each venue as you would like.
- If the weather’s lousy on November 29th, we will postpone the tour to the following Wednesday, December 5, 2012.
- More questions? Don’t hesitate to call us at 314/421-0325, or email Shelley at [email protected].
The Holiday Historic House Tour is a fantastic way to kick off the holiday season — we hope you can join us!