by Doug was absolutely thrilled when I proposed we go to Cape May to do their Christmas Candlelight House Tour, so I quickly bought the tickets. One tricky part of this is that the events sell out, so you need to buy them in advance, which means you don’t know what the weather will be. We got sub-30 degrees with 26 mph wind gusts. At least it wasn’t raining.
This is the 51st year that Cape May is running the tour, though they still haven’t solved their parking situation. We got lucky and were able to find a spot relatively close to the historic district, where 10 of the 17 stops were roughly located. The other sites were spread out over few miles, and though they had a trolley running to the outermost spots, the trolley didn’t come to the historic district, so it wasn’t exactly convenient. In the end we risked driving to the outer sites, and were successful.
The event runs three Saturday evenings in December, though the lineup changes slightly on the various nights. Although it says “house” tour in the title, it actually included churches and some small museums. I wasn’t deterred by this, but it turns out that none of those were actually “done up” for the holidays. There were three churches and almost no signs of the season – I expected at least a live nativity scene or something! The Firefighter’s history museum didn’t even put a wreath on their truck (though there were two outside).
The event runs for three hours, and everyone is doing it at the same time. Because you are going to private homes and bed-and-breakfast inns, the spaces are small and they had to regulate the number of people going in. I didn’t expect to have to stand in a line in the cold, though that might have been short-sighted on my behalf. Regardless, we got pretty lucky on that score, not having to wait very long. A few times when we exited the house, the line was much, much longer than what we had waited in. I was very grateful for my hand-and-toe warmers.
A couple of the sites seemed more like a pitch for their business. One was an Airbnb that you could rent. Another outlined what you could expect as a guest at the inn, and then ended with an offer to buy a book at a discount. I wasn’t expecting that on the tour, either.
Overall it was a “fine” event, not one I would do again. We went to 14 of the sites, and only a handful made me ooh and ahh. A few sites I didn’t take ANY pictures at, and that’s saying something for me. It was interesting to get to see inside some of the bed-and-breakfasts we are otherwise never go to see the inside of.
The cover photo is of The Angel of the Sea, which was built in 1850 as one grand mansion. It was relocated and split into two homes in 1881, then both homes relocated again in 1963!
The Humphrey Hughes House, built in 1903, has 11 bedrooms and is currently available for “whole house” rentals. Afterwards I looked up a week in June, just for kicks, and had a hearty laugh over the price tag of more than $24,000 (including taxes). It’s not even on the beach (a 3 minute walk, per the listing). I mean, the fireplaces were lovely, but you’re not even gonna use them in June!
The Bedford Inn
The Bedford Inn was one of my more favorite stops. It was built in 1883 in the Victorian Italianate style as a “Mother-Daughter” twin home, so it has two front doors (and twin staircases leading upstairs). It’s quite ornate inside with decadent wallpapering and a wraparound mural in the dining room.
I took lots of pictures, so it gets its own section!
The Avalon House
The Avalon House was my favorite of everything we saw. Much of this had to do with the enthusiasm of the owner. The Queen Anne home was built in 1895, and owned her grandparents for 40 years. When a developer was going to tear it down in 2020, she quick made arrangements to get the house – in pieces, put into storage! Eventually it was reassembled here, with additions to make it a viable business. It was lovingly decorated, and full of salvaged pieces that had been incorporated into the decor. I had to restrain myself from posting more pictures of this one!
