DUNGENESS — The doors of vintage homes and barns will open wide this Saturday in the Dungeness Historic Homes Tour, an event the likes of which hasn’t happened for many years.
So said Renee Mizar, spokeswoman for the Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating the Dungeness Valley’s culture and history.
The tour, open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, includes Groveland Cottage, formerly the Seal family mansion; the Henderson House, built in 1880; the Eberle barn built in the mid-1920s; the 64-year-old Wheeler-Cays barn that’s been converted into a home; the Cline house built in 1892 with its barn finished in 1934; and the 119-year-old Dungeness Schoolhouse.
The tour is “an opportunity to glimpse into the lives of the pioneers,” said DJ Bassett, executive director of the Museum & Arts Center, aka the MAC.
“You’ll have the chance to see some of the oldest homes in Clallam County . . . from the inside out, and to talk to descendants of some of the earliest pioneers.”
Each site on the tour will have hosts, who in several cases are the homeowners, Mizar added.
The hosts will show visitors around and share the back story about each place.
At the Dungeness Schoolhouse at the intersection of Anderson and Towne roads, refreshments will be served during tour hours.
Advance tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children age 12 and younger. The sole outlet is the MAC at 175 W. Cedar St. in Sequim.
Tour participants may also buy tickets on tour day at any of the historic homes.
On Saturday, the cost will be $18 for adults and $5 for children.
Participants may pay with credit cards at the MAC only, which will also be open Saturday.
Tickets include a driving map and details about each stop, but tour transportation will not be provided.
For more details, phone the MAC at 360-683-8110 or visit www.macsequim.org.
“We are excited about relaunching this type of event,” Mizar said.
“We at the MAC are now in the process of researching and planning several additional tours for the coming months and years,” including guided tours of local cemeteries, barns and other historic locales in and near Sequim.
Those interested in helping conduct research or in having their properties featured on such tours are invited to phone MAC research manager Tim Thompson at 360-681-2257 or email research@macsequim.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
