TIME UNTIL TOUR:
53rd Annual
Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour®
Saturday, December 14th
Sunday, December 15th
2024
1:00-7:00 PM Each day
Get ready to take a walk through history this holiday season, as ten properties in the Historic Oakwood neighborhood open their doors to visitors during the Annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour®.
There's a feeling of a small town community right in the middle of Downtown Raleigh. Historic Oakwood is a community of homes mostly dated from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. There's a continuing effort to preserve the Victorian, Queen Anne, and Craftsman architectural styles of these homes from a century ago. The immaculate care of the exteriors of the homes is only a prelude to the beauty and attention to detail given to the interiors.
Your opportunity to tour the interior of some of these homes happens each December during the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour®. Homes are staffed with docents to enlighten you on the rich history of each property. Tour the properties at your own pace in any order. View our Gallery for a glimpse into past tours or view pictures on Facebook.
TICKETS
Vouchers for check-in are valid for one day only. You must select Saturday or Sunday to attend at time of purchase. Re-entry into the tour properties is not permitted.
REGULAR: $40
GROUPS: $38
All ticket sales pending availability. Tickets are limited and recent years have sold out in advance. A processing fee is added to all tickets to help cover the costs of the ticketing service and credit card processing fees.
Sorry, no refunds. All ticket sales final.
Tour held “rain or shine.”
This is a nonprofit fundraising event. Tickets are not tax-deductible nor refundable.
The number of tickets available for each day is limited. Total capacity is limited.
Please purchase early to ensure availability.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Check-In Required
A physical ticket will be provided during check-in for each person in your group. The tour ticket lists all the properties open for the tour and includes a map of the neighborhood.
We suggest allowing 3+ hours for the tour. Time to complete the tour can vary from year to year and depends on the distance between houses, tour home layouts, time of day, weather, and your walking speed.
Check-in location is The Tucker House, 418 N. Person Street, on tour days. You must check in on your designated day. You may check in any time after 12:30 p.m., and the homes open at 1:00 p.m.
You may tour the properties in any order at your own pace. Walking from house to house is encouraged as on-street parking is very limited.
You will be greeted by porch hosts at the tour properties who will also provide some history of the home while you wait to enter.
Depending on the size of the property, attendees will enter the homes in small groups, typically 8-12 people at a time. Homes are staffed with interior docents to enlighten you on the rich history of each property.
Accessibility & Comfort
In an effort to make the tour an enjoyable experience for all, we want to remind you that many of these historic properties have very limited access for disabled persons. For your comfort and the protection of the homes, we suggest you refrain from wearing shoes with hard soles. High heel shoes, strollers, umbrellas, photography, and smoking are not permitted inside properties.
Portable toilets and a restroom trailer will be located at The Tucker House and a portable toilet will be located along the tour route. Use of tour home restrooms is not permitted.
Enjoy complimentary refreshments of cookies and cider served by volunteers at The Tucker House.
Tour held “rain or shine.” Please dress accordingly. Pets are not allowed in tour properties.
Children
Children UNDER 6 years of age are admitted without a ticket when accompanied by a paying adult (maximum two children per adult). You are reminded that strollers are not permitted in the tour homes and we ask that children be strictly supervised inside the tour properties. Children 6 years of age and older require a ticket.
Parking
Parking is available at the State Government parking lots #14 and #35 bounded by Blount, Polk, and North Streets. Overflow parking may also be available in the North Carolina Medical Society parking lot located behind Side Street Restaurant on Bloodworth Street.
Tour parking is also available along most streets of Historic Oakwood; however, please be aware on-street parking is limited and occupied by Oakwood residents, as most homes do not have off-street parking.
2024 SPONSORS:
DIAMOND
All Saints Chapel, Empire Properties & Empire Eats
PLATINUM
Parker Davis
GOLD
F.O. Finch III & Heather Denny
Mike & Jenny Farmer
SILVER
Billy Brewer & Jo Anne Sanford
In Memory of Susan Garrity
Katie and Ahren Rittershaus
Kay & Don Hobart
Lauren Bragg
Margaret Maloney
COPPER
Erin & Ethan Barger & Family
Justin Boner & Kiernan McGorty
Lauren & Justin Miller
BRONZE
Alice Garland and Mike Davis
Anonymous
Anonymous
Denis McDowell and Antoinette DiBenedetto
Kevin and Beth Zak
Naudain Machen
Paige Garriques & Dan Leonard
PEWTER
FRIEND OF OAKWOOD
Anna Short-Slightom
Jay & Melissa Beaman
John Chelf
Kush & Kaylyn Banerjee
Merritt Atkins and Brian O'Haver
1973 Tour Poster
HOW TO CHECK IN
Sample QR Code
You will need to check in with your TicketSpice voucher(s) with QR code (square bar code) at The Tucker House, 418 North Person Street, to begin the tour. EACH ticket/person will have their own unique QR code. You can bring your voucher(s) in one of four ways:
APPLE WALLET - Add your tickets to Apple Wallet by clicking the "add to Apple Wallet" button for each ticket. Your QR code(s) will be available for scanning at the venue in Apple Wallet. You must be on a compatible iOS device.
PRINT your TicketSpice vouchers and bring them with you.
VIA TEXT - Have your ticket QR code(s) sent to your mobile phone via text message for scanning using the "text me all tickets" link from your order confirmation page.
EMAIL - TicketSpice will send you an email confirmation for viewing your PDF vouchers online for printing or saving.
When you check in, you will receive a printed Tour Ticket which includes a map of the neighborhood and the location of each property on tour. You may check in any time after 12:30 PM, however, TOUR HOMES OPEN AT 1:00 PM.