Pottstown's Unique Historic Holiday House Tour Blends the Spirits of Christmas Past and Present

Photos by Evan Brandt

One of several Christmas trees set up in the North Charlotte Street home of Ted and Lori Freese. This one, in the second floor children's room, has a toy theme.

I have made no secret of the fact that one of my favorite things about Pottstown is the Historic Holiday House Tour and the way it shows off our borough's amazing architecture; and the care and detail those who have taken on the responsibility of preserving it display.

So I was particularly please when "Amy Squared" -- my name for Amy Wolf and Amy Francis -- took up the mantle laid down after years of maximum effort by Bill and Sue Krause.

478 N. Charlotte St.

Given that the Krauses were also a force behind the Fourth of July Celebration, the decision by Amy Squared to tie the house tour to a year-long fundraising effort for the GoFourth Celebration that brought fireworks back to Pottstown, was a stroke of genius.

Added to the fun this year on Dec. 8 was a trolley tour with historic house tour guide extraordinaire Mike Snyder.

Snyder has been penning monthly local history articles for The Mercury for more than a decade and, as a former teacher at Pottstown High School, he was the perfect choice.

Tour veterans that we are, and as we're getting up in years, (don't laugh) my wife Karen and I decided that would be a good way to enjoy the tour this year.

The only downside, for me, was that we would not get to go inside, which is where some of the best detail can be found.

Seeing as we had tickets for the afternoon tour, I snuck out early to visit a few of the houses, trying to focus on those I have not been inside before.

Ted Freese greets me at the door of his home,
on display during the Holiday House Tour.

I was not disappointed.

I took so many photos that trying to put them all in this post would overwhelm your dear reader.

Because I did not get to 12 homes, I cannot follow-up on my "12 Homes of Christmas" idea for 12 posts over Christmas, but there's always next year.

But I did get to several so, time permitting, I'll post some of those photos and descriptions in the coming days.

First up is 478 N. Charlotte St., the home of Ted and Lori Freese, two teachers in the Pottstown School District.

The house of "half a twin," but once inside, you would be hard-pressed to say it is not a full size house.

Loretta Young's portrait.

I was met at the door by Ted Freese, who was my son's school librarian at Lincoln Elementary School and a stout defender of fair funding for public schools and fair pay for its teachers.

Ted Freese shows off a full-sized pocket door.

The home was built in 1890 for Loretta Young, a local piano teacher, whose portrait still hangs in the Freese's dining room.

Remarkably, they are only the third owners of the house and still have some of the original furniture that was specifically built to be the right size for the home's out-sized dining room.

Much of the original woodwork, including full-sized pocket doors and original flooring, remains and has been lovingly preserved by the Freese family.

The house has a rather interesting story and a connection to the school district.

The second owners of the house were Barry and Nina Robinson, whose mother Anne Jones was also a mayor of Pottstown..

Ted and Lori Freese in their dining room

Barry, who owned a plastics company on near the Maple Street Park, served as Pottstown mayor, school board president and was active in the Old Pottstown Preservation Society.

Next door to this home is 482 N. Charlotte St., once owned by Jerry Lenfest the founder of Comcast.

Freese said when Lenfest put his house, which we will visit in tomorrow's post, on the market, Robinson feared it would be cut up into apartments and destroyed as so many grand old Pottstown homes were in the 1970s and 1980s.

So he bought it and rented out the 478 until he sold it to the Freese family.

"They even sold us the dining room furniture so it could stay in the house," said Ted.

And with that, let's see some more photos:

This beautiful stained glass window faces North Charlotte Street and lights what looks like perhaps the most comfortable reading nook I have ever laid eyes on.

Much of the woodwork in the Freese home, like this mantle piece, is original to 1890.

This little nook under the stairs in the front hall is, appropriately, enhanced by an old school desk. Both Lori and Ted Freese are teachers in the Pottstown School District.

Ted converted the rear of the house to a recreation room with a bar. Through the door you can see the sun room, which looks out on the home's garden, complete with a pond with running water.

Unlike some homes on the house tour, the Freese's even opened up their second floor to tour goers. Here in the hall, the beauty of the original woodwork shines through.

Even the bathroom has a stained glass door, hard-wood floors and a a large window. Now that's living.

The Freese's master bedroom features a bay window as well.

Well, that's all for today folks. Hope you're having a very Merry Christmas, particularly if you are home in Pottstown for the holidays.

Tomorrow, we'll go next door to 482 N. Charlotte St.