A Danville tradition continues on Sunday afternoon, December 11, when history hounds and architecture aficionados can relive the opulence of a bygone era.  More than a half-dozen houses-exuberant Victorian mansions, elegant Edwardian dwellings, a fabulous Foursquare, a gracious Georgian Revival, and more-all decked out in holiday finery, await the inspection of the most discriminating visitor.  Near the river, grand industrial buildings newly recycled in the Tobacco District will showcase the riches in bricks-and-mortar of the city's Golden Age of the Bright Leaf, and the Danville's oldest pipe organ will resound on the half-hour in a magnificent old church-turned-concert hall.

A rich spectrum of domestic building marks the 2005 event sponsored by the Danville Historical Society.  Along the city's first "suburban" streetcar line, two West Main Street homeowners will open their doors to visitors during the afternoon.  Stephen and Judy Salamon's rambling late Queen Anne style dwelling at 542 West Main is a sparkling survivor from the days when it was built on county farmland beyond the city limits.  Closer to the city's heart is the gracious home of Mrs. Edwin Callahan who has resided at 247 West Main – a massive solid-granite Foursquare – for nearly 50 years.  A block away at 118 Lady Astor Street stands the serene Georgian Revival brick house, dating from 1923, purchased earlier this year by Mr. Gary Hume, who moved here from Natchez, Mississippi.

Near the heart of the Old West End, visitors can revel in the antebellum splendor of the Sutherlin Mansion, bedecked in Victorian holiday style by volunteers at the Danville Museum.  Right behind the Museum is the home of Dave Fieldman, who is continuing the restoration of the 1889 Dance-Donelson House, at 137 Holbrook Avenue, to its former luster as one of the city's premier Queen Anne brick mansions.  The reclamation of another Queen Anne mansion near Penn's Bottom, a charming, angular composition of weatherboard and shingles at 840 Main Street, is nearing completion after more than two years in the capable hands of Sarah and Dan Latham, transplants from Annapolis, Maryland.

The 2005 Tour showcases the continuing renaissance of Jefferson Avenue.  A pair of narrow, but spacious, wood houses at 245 and 249 Jefferson echo their neighbors in a picturesque "row" of similar two-story structures, all dating from the early-to-mid 1890s.  The tour will feature the apartment of Mr. John Edge at 245 Jefferson Avenue and its neighbor at 249 Jefferson which is undergoing restoration. These houses are just two of nearly a dozen rehabs either underway or completed by Mr. Bill Wellbank and Mr. C.B. Maddox, Jr., Jefferson Avenue residents who continue to invest in their own backyard.  Just up the street at 200 Jefferson Avenue, Danville's oldest pipe organ in its original setting graces the sanctuary of one of the city's most historic churches, dubbed Sacred Spaces by its Maryland owners, Joe and Homer Ayala, both church musicians from Baltimore.  The Ayalas will offer holiday refreshments, periodic organ concerts and music of the season throughout the afternoon.

Two massive industrial buildings near the river are dramatic examples of adaptive reuse.  The World War I-era rehab at 301 Craghead Street features artisan Lori Bushell in her storefront gallery, Glass and Stone – open during the afternoon &ndash part of a larger renovation, on three levels, masterminded by veteran real estate agent and preservation developer Susan Stilwell, who also is creating a loft apartment on the top floor.  Around the corner at 601 Bridge Street (at Colquhoun) visitors will marvel at a former 1890s prizery/cigar factory and 1920s print shop together reborn as Dan River Crossing – now 74 apartments created by developers of Finlay Management Inc.

As Main Street's retail revival continues to gain momentum, tour goers will be rewarded by a stop at Carolyn's House of Flowers, 409 Main Street, a handsome retail flower shop laced with eclectic antiques and decorative accessories, plus holiday refreshments, the afternoon of the tour.

Throughout the afternoon, courtesy van transportation will be available along the route of the tour.