This weekend, the Long Beach Historical Society will resume its historic house tours, which have been suspended since the pandemic. They are designed to be a self-guided experience, and participants can either walk a two-mile loop or drive among six historic homes, all located near one another in the center of the city, both east and west of Long Beach Road.
The tours, on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., begin at the historical society’s museum, at 226 W. Penn St., where guests will check in according to scheduled reservations. Tickets are $40 for members and $50 for non-members. They are given brochures with a list of the homes on the tour and a detailed map, which double as tickets. Groups are staggered at half-hour intervals starting at noon, with the last group beginning at 2:30. The homes and the museum will close by 4.
Each house on the tour will have a homeowner on hand, along with a volunteer docent and a greeter to welcome guests and enforce house rules. Greeters will verify that visitors have their brochures, ensuring that only ticketed participants enter the properties.
About 100 spots have been filled, with openings still available, particularly for the later time slots. Children are not permitted on the tours, because of the fragile furnishings and irreplaceable architectural details.
“I’m really excited,” Sue Friedman, a trustee of the historical society and its fundraising chair, said. “One, that it’s being brought back. Two, you know how unique these houses are and how they represent Long Beach. I don’t even know if I would say represent Long Beach, because there are a lot of modern houses in Long Beach, (and) they’re not on our tour — but it’s very unusual that people are opening their homes, and we’re excited that people are opening their homes. They’re very proud of their homes.”
The museum, in Cottage Number 11, one of the original cottages built by William H. Reynolds during the development of Long Beach in the 1910s, is itself part of the tour. During restoration work at the museum, workers uncovered architectural details including some of the original wood from Cottage 13, which has been preserved in a window box display. The museum also features a chauffeur’s quarters, with original fixtures such as an early-20th-century toilet and a saltwater bathtub, once believed to have healing properties. Other preserved elements include an annunciator system, with a bell connected a panel that summoned household staff to a room that needed to be serviced.
The historical society decided to bring back the tours after pandemic-related concerns about indoor gatherings had eased. The decision was also influenced by continuing public interest and requests to restart the program.
“These houses that we chose — first of all, they all have the intricate architecture, a lot of them with the vision of Reynolds,” Friedman said. “And they all preserve the craftsmanship. They all restored it to its original. They did not take out the tiles and things like that; they restored the tiles. So these houses that we chose all have original craftsmanship, as opposed to renovated.”
Proceeds from the tour will support continued restoration efforts at the museum, including the repair of original windows and the modernization of the exhibit room with digital upgrades.
The tours are sponsored by Ruth A. Redlener, of RealtyConnectUSA; Stacey Simens, of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and Laffey International Realty; Miriam Gold, of Paul Gold Real Estate Inc.; Apple Bank Long Beach Branch; Sorrentos West End; Whitbread’s Sons Lumber Co. Inc.; and JJ Coopers.
In addition to the house tours, the historical society has planned other events focusing Long Beach’s past. On Thursday, after the Herald went to press, it was scheduled to host “The Crimes of Long Beach,” a free program exploring the city’s history of scandals and crimes, which included figures such as Reynolds himself. Future walking tours include a May 31 tour of the West End, focusing on the area’s transformation from sand dunes to a highly desirable residential neighborhood, and a June 14 tour called “Next Stop, Long Beach,” detailing the city’s early development as a seaside resort for the wealthy before the era of air conditioning and mass air travel.
To reserve a spot on the house tour or for more information on upcoming events, visit longbeachhistoricalsociety.org.
