I make a living poking around people’s homes.  As a residential architect in New England, I often find myself exploring antique attics, basements, and living spaces with a tape measure in tow.  I carry the same curiosity about houses into my personal life.  When I visit friends’ old houses, I’m not shy about tapping on a chase to hear if it’s hollow or peering into a fireplace to check out the firebox.  So, naturally, house tours suit my proclivities.  Especially the Christmas in Salem House Tour, which celebrates its 30th anniversary the first weekend of December 2009.  It’s always a treasure trove of intriguing historic properties. 

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Recommended upcoming New England tours

Gloucester Home for the Holidays Tour (Gloucester, MA) Saturday, November 21, 2009 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Marblehead Holiday House Tour (Marblehead, MA) Saturday, December 5, 2009 10:00 am-4:00 pm and Sunday, December 6, 2009 noon-4:00 pm

New Bedford Holiday House Tour (New Bedford, MA) Saturday, December 5, 2009 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm and Sunday, December 6, 2009 1:00 pm-5:00 pm

Plymouth Holiday House Tour (Plymouth, MA) Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6, 2009 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Christmas in Salem House Tour (Salem, MA) Friday, December 4, 2009 5:30 pm-7:30 pm, Saturday, December 5, 2009 10:00 am-4:30 pm, and Sunday, December 6, 2009 11:30 am-4:30 pm

Stockbridge Holiday House Tour (Stockbridge, MA) Saturday, December 5, 2009 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Westport Holiday House Tour (Westport, CT) Sunday December 6, 2009 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Essex Holiday House Tour (Essex, CT) Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Newburyport Holiday House Tour (Newburyport, MA) Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:00 am-4:00 pm

West Falmouth Library's Holiday House Tour (West Falmouth, MA) Sunday, December 13, 2009 noon-4:00 pm

Woodstock Holiday House Tour (Woodstock, VT) Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:00 am-4:00 pm

Portsmouth Holiday Home Tour (Portsmouth, NH) Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:00 pm-5:00 pm

At Home in Provincetown: Plain and Fancy (Provincetown, MA) Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009 11:00 am - 4 pm.  Tickets are $30 ($25 members) and include admission to the PMPM.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

1675 Narbonne HouseThis Saturday, August 1, as part of the 2009 Salem Maritime Festival the 1675 Narbonne House, the 1762 Derby House, and the 1819 Custom House will be open for free, self-guided or ranger-guided tours. You can sign up for tours at the Orientation Center on Central Wharf in Salem, Mass. Check the event website for schedule.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Maybe it’s the burgeoning slow food movement, but something about cooking in a brick oven without a thermostat, or over an open fire, sounds lovely. Then again, if the only way to get food to table was the slow, laborious way, I’d probably melt down as my sugar level plummeted. Still, I can imagine I’m a more patient person than I am, perhaps with an open day to spend preparing a feast in a walk-in fireplace, as the aroma of fresh-baked bread wafts through the air…Wouldn’t it be lovely?

If primitive kitchens get your fires burning, you can explore two kitchens of yesteryear via Historic New England on May 9, 2009 in Portsmouth, NH. Get a sense of how eighteenth and nineteenth century cooks got the job done. Visit the Wentworth-Cooldige mansion and its early French-style kitchen, complete with a potager, and the Rundlet-May home, which boasts a Rumford kitchen with a large two-shelf roasting oven, shallow fireplace, and three stew holes.

If you’re still hungry for more, return for the “America’s Kitchens” exhibit which opens June 11, 2009 at the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, N.H.

Not yet sated? All of 2009 is the “Year of the Kitchen” at Historic New England. Visit their website to see if other kitchen-related events whet your appetite.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast