Preview: Popular Orient Holiday Historic House Tour Happens Saturday

The Christmas House Tour is one of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit on the North Fork. This year's tour is scheduled for Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. and promises to be bigger and better than ever, with a record number of historic churches, a former Coast Guard station and several vintages homes on the itinerary.

There will be decorations, music and refreshments along the way. The Beach Plum Gift Shop located in the on Village Lane will be open making it possible for visitors to do a little Christmas shopping too. Sarah Olmstead and Connie Tupper will be manning the shop during the tour. A crew of 32 volunteers will be on hand to serve as hosts at each stop along the way.

Additional volunteers will be putting up signs, making and serving refreshments and selling and taking tickets.

You will need your car for the first lap of the tour that starts each year at the on Route 25. If you don't have tickets yet, this is the place to get them. The Church doors open at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $25.00 each.

There are three Churches on the tour this year. The will be making its debut appearance.

"We decided to put it on the tour, since we do the two churches in Orient every year," event Chairwoman Priscilla Bull said.

The Community Church located on Route 25 in East Marion was built in 1846. An addition was made in 1860, followed by a second addition in 1891. According to Bull, who serves on the Board of the Oysterponds Historical Society, the Church was rebuilt in 1904. The Community Church is known for its tracker organ which is said to be one of two such instruments on Long Island. The other tracker organ is in the Orient Methodist Church where it will be played during Saturday's house tour.

"The sound is beautiful", Bull said. The Community Church is also known for its stained glass windows.

You can also look forward to visiting a private home known as "The Tower" on the Long Island Sound at the end of Rocky Point Road. The residence was once a U.S. Coast Guard station. The tour's organizers consider this home a real "get" and have been trying for years to include it on the tour.

This year Bull succeeded thanks to her son Allan Bull, a former participant in the Orient Artist in Residence Program.

"He had friends who lived on the same street, they knew the homeowners and put me in touch," Bull explained. She paid a visit to the homeowners on Thanksgiving and signed them up for the tour.

The last stop on the tour in East Marion is on Route 25 near the Community Church. The refurbished B&B is the former Hull Conklin house.

built in 1874 is a stop you won't want to miss. This simple country building has been the community gathering place in Orient since it was built. Refreshments are served here where you can expect to have company since the Oysterponds Parent Teacher Association will be having a Chinese Auction on the same day,

will be open and fully decorated for Christmas. This is always a highlight of the tour. A video describing the process of moving this house from Greenport to its present location in Orient Village years ago is newly available this year.

Expect to see the former residence of John and Nene Dorman located on Village Lane take on a revived identity in the hands of its new owners, Madeline MacIntosh and Chris Pavone. The house was built in 1873.

Moving along to Skipper's Lane, you will find the former home of Captain George Rackett now owned by Scott Stein and Andrea Schulz. This house is a must-stop home on one of the Village's nicest streets.

The William Steeple Davis House and Studio will be open to visitors as well with current artist in residence Anne Wildey in attendance.

Burke Liburt, the owner of one of the oldest houses in Orient, has included his home built in 1740 on the tour. Ed and Janice Caufield, owners of the Joseph Terry House built in 1831, are also participating.  Joseph Terry was a former postmaster in Orient.

"They have done a great job decorating," Bull said of the Caufield home.

Bull has been organizing the tour which began in 1985 for the last three years. Born Priscilla Terry 71 years ago, the retired nurse is a descendant of one of the founding families in Orient. Over the years the tour has grown so popular that it now attracts regular visitors from New York City, western Suffolk County and Connecticut. According to Bull, attendance based on actual ticket sales has been as high as 600 in previous years. Last year attendance was down when crowds were scared off by a weather forecast predicting a blizzard that never happened.

"It didn't snow," Bull said, "But people didn't come out."

Proceeds from the house tour will go to the Oysterponds Historical Society.