Homeowner Prepares for Phoenixville Candelight Holiday Tour

Think of the prospect of possibly 400 people coming over for a visit—all on the same night.

There might be a splash of panic, a dose of heavy cleaning and a flurry of concern. Not so for Susan Von Mechow.

“I started hopping up and down, of course,” she said, seated on a couch in her historic home in the 200 block of Washington Avenue.

A 26-year-resident of the home, she’d taken the in the past and hoped her own historic home would one day be part of the tour. She almost got involved a few years ago, but wanted to put some more touches on the house. Then, during the summer, a committee member knocked on the door.

Her daughter answered and let Von Mechow know she was asked to be on the tour.

“My daughter’s just about as excited as I am,” Von Mechow said. “My husband’s mouth kind of dropped open.”

Her son was enlisted to help move furniture around (“He’s pretty indifferent,” Von Mechow noted) and the family had painters in as recently as this weekend.

“You let things go for a long time, and think, it can wait,” Von Mechow said. “But then you realize the tour is in a couple of months and you have to get moving.”

Von Mechow is one of 11 homeowners who will open their doors to the community as part of the Phoenixville Candlelight Holiday Tour on Saturday. Each home is carefully decorated and according to organizer Jan Swarr, many are within walking distance of the , where the tour kicks off. Because the tour is so early in the holiday season, it gives people a chance to get inspired to decorate their own homes.

“They can go through these homes and get ideas for their own,” Swarr said.

Von Mechow still has to put a few finishing touches on her home, which features a plush Oriental rug, wood detailing and hardwood floors. While her husband prefers traditional and Victorian design, she’s more into the contemporary, minimalist style.

“The style of this house comes from a heck of a lot of compromise,” Von Mechow said.

The couple moved in when their daughter was a baby and tried to keep the house close to its roots. Von Mechow contacted the Chester County Historical Society and found that most likely, the home, which was built in 1865, was the residence of a manager of the steel plant downtown.

“We don’t know exactly who lived here, but that gave us an idea,” Von Mechow said.

They noticed indents in the walls for a mantle and bookcase, and a craftsman helped recreate those pieces out of wood. Exposed pipes and wires were unsightly, and the Von Mechows tucked those away behind original-looking wood boxes.

“If we can’t have the original, we try to reproduce it as if it were that period,” Von Mechow said.

Over more than two dozen years, the family has taken on a number of projects, but there’s always more to do, Von Mechow said.

“We’re still working on parts of the house,” she said. “It was already beautiful. We just lived in it, helped it along.”

The Phoenixville Candlelight Holiday Tour benefits two local charities this year— and .

Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 the day of the tour, and you can purchase them at The Phoenixville Library, , , Heidi Sue Variety, , , and the . The tour will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, visit the .