Take a look inside beautiful Mt. Gretna homes with this self-guided tour

Daniel Larlham Jr., Lebanon Daily News
·2 min read

Take a look through Mt. Gretna's beautiful historic cottages and buildings as well as some new homes with Mt. Gretna Music's annual self guided tour.

When

The tour is held on Saturday, Aug. 5 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Ten homes and buildings, ranging from modern A-frames to historic tree-house like cottages, are available to tour both inside and outside.

The Mt. Gretna Fire Hall was also added to the tour this year to help raise money for a new fire truck.

Tickets

Presale tickets for the tour are $20 and can be purchased over the phone at (717) 361-1508, online with a $1.55 service charge at www.gretnamusic.org, or at all Stauffers of Kissel Hill locations and the Mt. Gretna Visitor Information Center.

On the day of the tour, $25 tickets will be sold outside the Mt. Gretna Post Office on Princeton Avenue and in front of the Mt. Gretna Playhouse at 200 Pennsylvania Ave.

10 houses and buildings in Mt. Gretna are up for the 37th tour, benefiting Mt. Gretna Music.
10 houses and buildings in Mt. Gretna are up for the 37th tour, benefiting Mt. Gretna Music.

Proceeds of the tour will benefit Mt. Gretna Music, which has been putting on shows for the Central P.a. community from the Mt. Gretna Playhouse for the nearly 50 years.

What will you see?

The tour, this year marking its 37th year, brings as many as 900 people to the small, tightly knit Mt. Gretna community, according to executive director of Mt. Gretna Music Suzanne Stewart.

Residents of the community offer up their own homes for the tour, which range from those that live in Mt. Gretna year-round, to those that keep a cottage for weekend getaways. Other buildings on the tour include the historical society museum, Chautauqua hall of philosophy and library.

Regardless of how the homes are used, each one is a distinct reflection of its owner, and most houses in both the the camp meeting and the Chautauqua side are given names.

The inspired homes, surrounded by a dense tree canopy, with smaller features, such as the fairy garden and Jigger Shop, which serves ice cream and light fare, build that sense that you've been dropped into something like a fantasy novel.

Parking for the tour is available behind the Mt. Gretna Playhouse.

Not all buildings on the tour are ADA accessible and require going up stairs.

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Not all houses on the tour are ADA accessible.
Not all houses on the tour are ADA accessible.

More things you'll find on the tour

  • A home with a 700-square-foot purple porch.

  • A home constructed in 1911 with much of its original interior wood paneling still intact.

  • A home with a small profit and angular lot placement where where many old-growth trees were saved during construction. It was the third private property in Lebanon County to be certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

  • The cottage where two-time Emmy winner Loretta Swit stayed in 2000 while performing at the Mt. Gretna Playhouse.

Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on Twitter @djlarlham

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Take a tour inside the historic and newer homes of Mt. Gretna