Cape May’s Annual Christmas Candlelight House Tour

CAPE MAY – Come to Cape May for the final Christmas Candlelight House Tour of the season on Dec. 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC), and kindle your Christmas spirit. Every year during these popular self-guided tours, Victorian inns, homes, churches and hotels open their doors and invite you inside to share the warmth and hospitality of the season.
You will be welcomed with plenty of holiday cheer to enjoy more than a dozen properties adorned for the holidays. Delight in Christmas carols by candlelight, strolling musicians and beautiful vintage holiday decorations. Travel from site to site on board a heated trolley shuttle and stop at hospitality centers for warm beverages and traditional treats.
Featured properties include the following: The Bacchus Inn, 719 Columbia Ave.; Beauclaire’s B&B Inn, 23 Ocean St.; Congress Hall Hotel, Congress Place; The Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St.; Franklin’s Key, 313 Franklin St.; Heather Mist, 627 Hughes St.; The John Wesley Inn, 30 Gurney St.; The Luther Ogden Inn, 815 Kearney Ave.; The Mainstay Inn, 635 Columbia Ave.; The Mason Cottage, 623 Columbia Ave.; The Mission Inn, 1117 New Jersey Ave.; The Primrose Inn, 1102 Lafayette St.; The Queen Victoria, 102 Ocean St.; The Summer Cottage Inn, 613 Columbia Ave.; Victorian Lace Inn, 901 Stockton Ave.; and The White Dove Cottage, 619 Hughes St.
Christmas Candlelight House Tours also include a visit to Cape May’s authentically decorated Victorian house museum, the Emlen Physick Estate at 1048 Washington St., and the exhibit “An Old-Fashioned Christmas: Holiday Traditions through the Years” in the Carriage House Gallery located on the grounds of the Physick Estate. The exhibit’s main attraction is a model train display that includes plenty of favorite Christmas toys, all beneath the boughs of a giant Christmas tree, and much more.
Two conveniently located hospitality centers, the Carriage House at the Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington St., and First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, Hughes and Decatur Streets, will be open from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., allowing visitors to rest and enjoy warm beverages and traditional holiday treats. Free shuttle service on heated trolleys is provided throughout the evening.
Admission to the Christmas Candlelight House Tour is $25 for adults and $20 for children (ages 3 to 12). These popular tours sell quickly; it is strongly recommended that tickets be reserved in advance by calling 609-884-5404 or 800-275-4278 or visiting www.capemaymac.org. Any remaining tickets on the day of the tour may be purchased at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth, Washington and Ocean streets. Properties on tour are subject to change.