In a town where, antebellum homes seem to be more prolific than those built after the American Civil War, Savannah is the perfect example of history blending with modern life. As our hop on hop off tour bus driver narrated and wound his way through the picturesque streets and squares, we were captivated by the city’s beauty and history. The driver shared stories of famous historical figures and pointed out the homes they owned, lived in or visited. Many of these homes have been converted to museums and are open to the public, but more have continued on as private residences.

As we took in the sites that are open to the public, our anticipation increased for the Holiday Tour of Homes that coming Saturday….the event which had prompted our trip to Savannah. The event that would give us a peek inside these private residences to see how local Savannahians live inside these historically significant homes.

The Dollars and Cents

At $65 each, tickets to Savannah’s 44th Annual Holiday Tour of Homes were a bit pricey. In fact, it was the most we’ve paid for home tour tickets to date. But for that price, tickets also included entrance to three museum houses (the Andrew Low House, the Green Meldrim House and the Massie Heritage Center). It also provided access to three historic inns (the Kehoe House, the Ballastone Inn and the Eliza Thompson House). If you want to be technical about it, purchasing individual tickets to each of the three included museum houses would set you back $39…so there is value built-in. And the tour itself encompasses entrance into 14 different properties, which is extensive.

Tour Flow

The Downtown Neighborhood Association of Savannah (the organization that put on the tour) controlled the flow of guests inside the homes by requiring ticket-buyers to choose between two time slots. Tour 1 allowed you into the homes from 10-2, while Tour 2 didn’t allow you into the homes until 12-4. We opted for Tour 1 so we could get to the best part first!

The tour also offered a mobile app. I thought this was pretty unique, so I downloaded it. I had hoped that it would be an interactive map to help lead us from home to home. Instead it was a listing of tour sponsors, narrative about each home, and a PDF map of the tour….all of which were already available inside our tour book.

Day Of

We picked up our tickets the morning of the tour at the Jepson Center on Telfair Square. Armed with guidebooks and wristbands, we headed out. We opted to do the homes in order, starting with number one.

The homes were absolutely beautiful…..and really really really historic. The common thread we noticed inside the homes was a big focus on history, artwork and antiques. Docents and homeowners were plentiful and shared stories about many of the pieces. Each home had it’s unique story, one starting out as a spec home in 1851, before being converted to a telephone switchboard center, then being converted to apartments, before being converted back into a home. Stories like that were abundant.

Two Clear Favorites

Two homes really stood out to me on the tour. Ghost hunters will recognize home #7 as the infamous 432 Abercorn, which is storied to be one of the most haunted places in Savannah. The home was recently sold to new owners and is undergoing a full restoration. The home was opened up for the tour and provided the rare opportunity to view the home in its current state of substantial restoration. The 1868 beauty was stripped down, awaiting a complete update of its electrical and plumbing systems, repairs on plaster, floors and windows as well as addition of its kitchen and bathroom facilities. The new owners hope to feature the home on a future Holiday Tour of Homes so that visitors can appreciate the before and after.

While the exterior of home #4 on Barnard Street does not stand out among the other homes and their immense architectural beauty, its history and conversion is unique. It was built as a fire station in 1886. When it was decommissioned in the 1950’s, it became an auto body shop for more than 40 years. Customers would have their cars repainted and repaired in the bays that once held fire trucks. In the 1990’s it was converted into a home. Where fire trucks used to be parked, now sits a bedroom and hallway. Original horse stalls (for early firetrucks) became a great room. Where horses used to graze became a swimming pool and boxwood parterre. Being inside the home, you can tell that it has been re-purposed, which is a great nod to its past life.

Gripes

Having been on more than a dozen home tours to date, one of my pet peeves is when key parts of homes are left off the tour. During this Savannah tour, most of the bedrooms were off-limits. While I’m sure this was done to offer the homeowners some privacy, we were left wanting more. The only other issue we had was that one home had a very long line to enter. The line to get into home #3 was about 20 mins. After having waited in line, it was disappointing because this was the only new home (built in 2018) on the tour. AND only a small portion of the home was actually open to the tour.

Overall Thoughts

The 44th Annual Holiday Tour of Homes did not disappoint. There were more properties on the tour than we had the energy to visit. We saw all the homes, but started to peter out when it came to the museum houses and historic inns. We stayed in Savannah a total of 4 days to get a full feel of the city. And we made a week of it and visited Charleston before arriving in Savannah. All in all we had a wonderful time!

H4HT’s Disclaimer

Word and a few snapshots cannot properly convey the beauty of these properties and of Savannah. The main purpose of this blog is simply to share our overall opinion of the home tour in terms of planning, content and overall experience. We highly recommend you experience them for yourself! Visit our Home Tour database to find a home tour in your area, or in an area in which you will be traveling to! Happy touring!