Hunter Farmhouse is one of featured stops on Tour of Homes

The Hunter Farmhouse near Port Washington is one of the featured stops on this year’s Christmas Tour of Homes, a fundraiser for the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association. The tour on Sunday, Dec. 8 from noon to 5 p.m. will feature locations in Southern Tuscarawas County for 2024.

The original home was purchased by Nancy Hunter and her late husband Chuck in 1982. It was built in 1874 and features original plank floors, wide cherry woodwork and a fireplace that was once used for cooking. Two later additions were made to match the home.

“We liked all the old original stuff that was still here. And it was just standing alone, like somebody, buy me,” Nancy Hunter said.

They had looked at other homes, but Chuck Hunter was drawn to the Port Washington area.

“He loved to be here; this was his territory. He loved it out here to hunt. He knew all the farmers,” Hunter said, adding she and Chuck were both from New Philadelphia.

The house had a good structure, but the couple did make some cosmetic repairs. They put on an addition in 1999, making the home like a duplex but separated by a door for Nancy Hunter’s parents to live. Later, another addition was added as Hunter provides shared living for three individuals with differing abilities. Each person has his/her own area.

Hunter is happy her sister Karen Mortimer lives nearby. Mortimer helped with the decorations and decorated all the Christmas trees in the home.

“We've been working for weeks,” Hunter said.

She has always decorated for Christmas but added several more trees just for the tour.

Chuck Hunter also was good at finding things to enhance the home.

“Chuck really loved old stuff. He had an eye for things. He liked earlier antique, primitive furniture,” Hunter said.

Favorites in the collection include earlier folk art. They especially liked unusual pieces, like a wooden horse head, and pottery made in Tuscarawas County. Hunter also collects Santas.

A full-size mounted grizzly bear came from a friend in California who didn’t have room for it. There also is a mounted buffalo head. And Hunter’s favorite new piece this year is located outside. It’s an old sleigh with original paint.

Stops on the tour include the Olde Main Street Museum, home of the Newcomerstown Historical Society in Newcomerstown. The building contains a replica of a typical 1904 small American town including a jail, a grocery store, a bank, the Eureka Hardware and Sam Douglass’ Saloon. They also have Cy Young and Woody Hayes memorabilia.

Shady Bend Manor near Newcomerstown is owned by Wesley and Julie Hurless. Built between 1869 and 1874, the Shady Bend Manor has been coined as “Ohio’s Italianate Jewell.” Over the years the home has served as a private residence, antique shop, restaurant and gambling hall and even had a rathskeller in the basement.

The home of Roy and Michelle Patterson near Newcomerstown was originally built in 1890. The home was a 30-by-40-foot post and beam barn with a partial corncrib. A remodel was finished in 2018, making it into a home. New pine ceilings still feature the original post and beams. The kitchen has a 13-foot reclaimed barn wood island.

The home of Cork and Sandi Mann in Port Washington is a High Victorian Italianate Villa built in 1873. They love the Victorian style and are working to bring the home back to its original grandeur. The home features many curved walls, a curved staircase and seven gas fireplaces throughout.

Another can’t-miss stop is the three-story Port Washington Union Hall in Port Washington. Built in 1879, it was the cultural and political center of the village for decades and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It once housed the mayor’s office, council chambers, the jail, the fire department, an auditorium with stage and Masonic Lodge meeting rooms. The museum features include an 1879 fire department hand-pumper and a spiral staircase.

St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Port Washington was founded in 1851. The current building was dedicated in 1888. Though its woodwork was once painted white, it has been restored to its former glory. The original pews, made by a local craftsman, are still in use.

The Miller Farm, owned by Millie Weston, is located in the countryside near Fox Valley. It is an eight-room country home built by Weston’s Great-grandfather Jacob Wenger in 1905 of materials found on the farm. The upstairs bathroom has the original sink and clawfoot tub. The house has a wood-burning fireplace and a set of pocket doors. The decorated home features over 30 trees.

Visit www.tuschha.org. Tickets are $15 presale and $20 the day of the tour.