Spend one 2024 afternoon in Flushing and find out what Christmas was like in the 17th century Quaker community, 18th century England, 19th century Germany, and a prominent 20th century inventor’s house.
The Holiday House Tour is on Sunday, Dec. 8, from noon to 4 pm.
Hosted by the Queens Historical Society and ConEdison, this 37th annual event encourages guests to visit five appropriately decorated venues — Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead, Lewis Latimer House Museum, Quaker Meeting House, and Voelker Orth Museum — to partake in holiday activities and refreshments.
Click here for tickets which cost $25 and provide admission to all the sites. Children (12 and under) can attend for $15. Patrons can walk or drive personal vehicles to visit the gems at their own pace or take a free van which will circulate all afternoon.
Here’s a primer on what to expect.
Kingsland Homestead (143-35 37th Ave.) was built by Charles Doughty, a wealthy Quaker’s son, in 1785. His son-in-law, a British sea captain named Joseph King, bought the property and expanded it in 1801. The two-story Long Island half house has a gambrel roof, a crescent-shaped window in a side gable, a Federal-period chimney piece with an iron Franklin stove, and a Dutch-style, two-level front door. Everything is arranged to reflect life in 1870, when 10 people – two young couples and their children – lived there.
Voelker Orth Museum (149-19 38th Ave.) dates to 1891. The two-story Victorian gem provided shelter to three generations of a family with German roots. The garden contains many of the popular plants and berry bushes of the late 19th century. They’re maintained with time-honored gardening techniques, such as hand-pruning, with no pesticide use.
Bowne House (37-01 Bowne St.) is the borough’s oldest domicile. It was built by English-born religious freedom advocate John Bowne in 1661. The structure has a unique blend of Dutch and English construction techniques on the outside and more than 5,000 time-honored items on the inside, including an early dollhouse, an old china cabinet, and a room where the fiercely abolitionist family hid escaped slaves from bounty hunters. Nine generations of the Bowne and Parsons families lived there until 1945, when the house became a museum.
Lewis Latimer House Museum (31-41 137th St.) was the longtime home of Lewis Latimer who helped invent the telephone alongside Alexander Graham Bell and the light bulb with Thomas Alva Edison. The African American son also got seven patents from the United States government for his own electricity-related inventions.
Quaker Meeting House (137-16 Northern Blvd.) was constructed in 1694 with funds from John Bowne and his family. It was the first house of worship in Flushing, and it is still the second oldest house of worship in the United States.
“In addition to finding out about the past, the Holly House Tour provides a look to the future through its workshops that open doors for students to explore careers in renewable energy, engineering and other sciences,” stated ConEdison Senior Vice President Jen Hensley. “As the clean energy future takes shape, it is more important than ever to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table.”
Top Image: Latimer House;
middle image: Voelker Orth Museum