holiday house tour locations

Built three years ago, this special French country house incorporates lots of natural light, numerous modern conveniences, and an elegant open floor plan that provides a perfect flow for entertaining.  Visitors will enjoy marble floors, a dining room defined by columns, arches and exquisite Jessica McClintock chandeliers, three fireplaces, and five Christmas trees – including one with an “under the sea” theme! Additional features include a curved staircase, a fun family game room with a stone bar, a movie theater with film-themed carpet, and a back terrace complete with a summer kitchen.

Built in 1971, this unique brick home will charm guests with its leaded glass windows with stained glass inserts, a two-story entrance rotunda with peaked ceiling, and a curved staircase decorated for the season.  Visitors will also enjoy magnificent art and antiques, including a Belgian grandfather’s clock, a Heather Horton painting, a Gabby Horvath sculpture, and other unique surprises – such as Christmas decorations from around the world and a large wooden elephant! 

This one-of-a-kind farmhouse dates back to 1650 with additions made in 1820, 1935, and 2010. The dining room, which is what remains of the original house, includes old glass windowpanes, thick stone walls, and a fireplace with an arm for a cooking pot. The rest of the home features charming holiday decorations, N.C. Wyeth reproductions, an original Schoonover painting, and even wild animal heads! 

As you approach this majestic 1927 Tudor home, you might think you’ve detoured onto an English country estate, except the roof is Vermont slate and the house is constructed of Avondale stone.  Once inside, visitors will marvel at an English grandfather’s clock, a bright sun room and charming library, and a powder room that features stained glass windows and matching wallpaper. Visitors will be dazzled by unique Christmas decorations, including a snowy scene by Belgian artist Bernard Gantner and a table set with handsome Christmas linens and Spode Christmas tree china.  

There is something to pique the interest of everyone in this charming 110-year-old Tudor cottage, originally the carriage house to the Coyne estate.  Visitors will enter through a small entrance hall with red tile floor and Asian wallpaper.  The tour will continue through a cozy family room, a garden/guest room, a screened-in porch decorated with Brandywine River Museum “critters,” and a living room featuring an exquisite carpet from Pakistan.  Guests will also be delighted by a junk art ship model and a staircase festooned with garlands.

Hidden behind a hedgerow in a charming English Tudor home is one of the true art treasures of Wilmington - The Howard Pyle Studio. The studio was built in 1883 by Howard Pyle. In 1900, additional studio space was added for his school of painting and illustration.  N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Stanley Arthurs, and Violet Oakley were just a few of the pupils who attended the school.  Notice the south-facing skylights, the details of the interior shingles and Moroccan chest fronts on the walls and ceilings, the hand-carved surrounds on the fireplaces, and the unusual cross-section of a buttonwood tree placed by Stanley Arthurs to commemorate where Howard Pyle stood to critique his students' work.  Don't miss the Indian weathervane perched on the studio roof.

Built in 1962, this charming white brick home is filled with unique collections. The dining room walls are hung with a collection of enchanting depictions of children with animals by Currier and Ives, and the den houses collections of books with matching bindings. Guests will also enjoy a table set for New Year's Eve, complete with black, white and silver Lenox china, a gorgeous silver, blue, and white Christmas tree, and a Christmas tree in the pergola, which visitors will admire from a three-season sun porch.