One of the most anticipated events of the holiday, the 15th annual Montford Holiday Tour of Homes will take place from 1–5 p.m. on Saturday, December 11. It is Montford’s opportunity to showcase the diversity of architectural styles in this unique historic district. Visitors and residents alike come to enjoy the eclectic personality of the neighborhood, which provides a slice of Asheville life of both yesterday and today.

Homes on this year’s tour include a variety of old and new, large and small, green, renovated, plus several bed-and-breakfast inns. Among the houses on the tour are located at 55 and 56 Short Street. Both are renovated worker cottages. The home at 55 Short Street is an Energy Star certified rehabbed 1912 bungalow (the first historic home in Montford to achieve this designation). While keeping many original features such as wood floors and doors, it also has solar hot water, a heat pump system, and a skylight. An artful blending of historic and modern, the house boasts many colorful stained glass windows in surprising locations as well as an edible yard.

Across the street is a lovingly restored 1910 Montford cottage which won a Griffin Award from the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. It has an open floor plan with heart pine floors, exposed brick fireplace, ten-foot ceilings, and beautiful details inside and out. Just around the corner, at 63 Magnolia Avenue, is the James Plemmons house built in 1927. On Montford Avenue, you will tour a sunny yellow home which has been newly renovated with the kitchen in the front of the house.

Three inns will also open their doors. The Carolina Bed and Breakfast was built in 1901 by Richard Sharp Smith, supervising architect of the Biltmore house. The spacious Arts & Craft style rooms show- case the unique, original art and antiques which the owners have collected in their voyages around the world. The Wright Inn is a spectacular circa 1900 Queen Anne Victorian whose plans were purchased from the Barbour catalogue from Knoxville, Tennessee. Cumberland Falls Bed and Breakfast offers the relaxing sounds of a waterfall in a peaceful garden as well as some very unusual woodwork.

There will be entertainment and many surprises along the way so don’t miss this year’s Montford Tour of Homes. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center gift shop, 36 Montford Avenue, or online at montfordtour.com. All proceeds go to the Montford Neighborhood Association for neighborhood improvement projects.

Sharon Fahrer is a local historian and resident of the Montford neighborhood. She leads historic walking tours downtown and in Montford.