Three historic homes in North Georgia will be open for candlelight tours this weekend: the Gordon-Lee Mansion in Chickamauga, the Marsh House in LaFayette and the Chief Vann House in Chatsworth.
Gordon-Lee Mansion
Christmas Candlelight TourWhen: 6-9 p.m. today and Saturday.Where: Gordon-Lee Mansion, 217 Cove Road, Chickamauga, Ga.Admission: $4 adults, $2 children 12 and younger.Phone: 706-375-4728.Email: barcliftr@bellsouth.net.Website: www.GordonLeeMansion.com.
The Friends of the Gordon-Lee Mansion and First Baptist Church of Chickamauga are uniting to present the mansion's 36th annual Christmas Candlelight Tour. Tours, which began last weekend, continue tonight and Saturday.
The Civil War-era mansion will be decorated in the atmosphere of Christmas past. Guests will take self-guided tours while live music plays. Hot cider and homemade cookies will be served in the warming kitchen.
Admission proceeds benefit the two nonprofit organizations sponsoring the tour. The Friends organization will use its share of proceeds to further promote and preserve the historical significance of the mansion. The church's portion will go toward its summer camp program.
Marsh House
Christmas Candlelight Tour and Open HouseWhen: 6-8 p.m. Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday.Where: Marsh House, 308 N. Main St., LaFayette, Ga.Admission: $5 adults, $3 seniors 65 and older, $1 children 6-12.Phone: 423-718-9918, 706-638-5187.Email: marshhouse1836@gmail.com.Website: www.marshhouseoflafayette.com.
The eighth annual Christmas Candlelight Tour and Open House, scheduled Saturday and Sunday at the historic antebellum home, will feature natural greenery and Victorian-inspired decorations.
An elegantly decorated 10-foot live tree presides over the main hall, and elaborate arrangements adorn the mantelpieces. Christmas trees decorated in Victorian style are on display in several rooms.
Additionally, re-enactors in period clothing will offer a representation of life in the late 1800s. Future Farmers of America students from LaFayette High School will present a live Nativity both evenings.
Christmas carols and other seasonal selections will be performed in the informal parlor by vocalists from LaFayette churches. Featured are the Victory Tabernacle Baptist Church Praise Team; vocalists Amy Green and Tanya Torbett from LaFayette's Second Baptist Church; and vocalists Jason O'Neal, Stephanie Lundy, Sherry Careathers and Kim Blakemore from Cove Road Church of God.
Cookies and hot mulled cider will be served from the kitchen at the end of the tour.
Chief Vann House
Cherokee Christmas by CandlelightWhen: 5-9 p.m. today and Saturday.Where: Chief Vann House Historic Site, Chatsworth, Ga.Admission: $3.50-$5.Phone: 706-695-2598.Website: www.GeorgiaStateParks.org.
Guests can celebrate a Cherokee Christmas by Candlelight during tours of this historic site, one of the nation's best-preserved Cherokee Indian homes. Cherokee Chief James Vann opened his new brick mansion to the Moravian missionaries in 1805 to hold one of the first Christmas celebrations in the Cherokee Nation. To honor this tradition, the sights and sounds of a 19th-century Christmas are re-created.