Quogue Historical Society to Hold First Ever Holiday House Tour

In an effort to raise funding to support a move to new headquarters, the Quogue Historical Society is holding its 1st annual Holiday House Tour on Saturday.

"We are going to be opening our new home towards the end of January and we really needed to get our funds up," said Lee Wadelton, chair of the Quogue Historical Society.  "We thought this would be a great way to do it."

Presently, the historical society operates out of the Quogue Library and uses the old school house, located behind the library to showcase its collections.  However, quarters are becoming tight and there is little space to showcase the society's records.

"We have grown so much," said Wadelton, who hopes that the society's new location at 114 Jessup Avenue will provide a venue to not only display collections, but also provide the community with ancestry research space.

"We would love for people to be able to come and conduct research. We have wonderful collections, including family diaries," said Wadelton.

In addition, Wadelton says she hopes that the house tour will generate enough funds to help in the society's goal to providing educational opportunities for students, as well as computerize many of its documents, including ship records. 

She has high expectations, especially since she has seen similar holiday house tours raise tremendous amounts of money.

Prior to serving with the Quogue historical Society, Wad Elton started a similar event in Summit, New Jersey.

"A house tour can bring in a significant amount of money with little outlay since the homeowners are doing most of the work," she said.

The Quogue Holiday House Tour, according to Melissa Cook, who is co-chairing the tour with Maureen Leness, will allow ticket-holders to explore five homes.  A sixth home has been made available as a 'party house' for participates to enjoy cocktails and drinks.

"The houses really look great," said Cook.  "They are all decorated differently."

Among the houses to be showcased are ones on Dune Road, Beach Lane, and Quogue Street — each hold historical value.

Donna Scssa, who also serves on the historical society's board, said she jumped at the opportunity to open her doors for the event.    

"I always decorate for Christmas so I thought this was a natural fit," said Scssa.

Scssa's home, which was built in the 1700's and is noted as one of the oldest homes in Quogue, is already decked out and ready for the Holiday House Tour.   In keeping with traditional Williamsburg, Virgina holiday-style, Scssa says she dressed her flower boxes with fruit.

The tour will run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on December Dec. 18.  For more information, call the Quogue Library at (631) 653-4224.  Tickets for the event are priced between $50 and $100.  Tickets are available at the Quogue Library and at the Lilly Pad on Jessup Avenue in Quogue.