History Comes to Light
Photography by Matt McGraw
Lower Cape Fear Historical Society’s Old Wilmington by Candlelight Tour is a tradition that provides cherished holiday memories for young and old.
Every December, one event in the Wilmington historic district has embodied the city’s Christmas traditions for more than five decades: the Old Wilmington by Candlelight Tour, also known simply as the Candlelight Tour.
Over the course of two days, ticket holders guide themselves along cobblestone streets to some of the most spectacular private homes, churches and historical buildings in Downtown Wilmington, each adorned with a variety of Christmas themes. At each stop, a docent shares history of the property while visitors enjoy the holiday décor.
The 2025 tour includes more than a dozen historic homes and churches, the Wilmington Railroad Museum and the Hannah Block Community Arts Center on S. 2nd Street.
Of particular note is the home at 107 S. 4th Street, the William A. French House. The Italianate-style residence was built for William Augustus French, a boot and shoe merchant, and his wife, Harriet Perkins Timmonds.
“It was built by Alexander Strausz, a Hungarian-American architect who designed several other historic structures in Wilmington, including the Temple of Israel, the Hasell-Parsley House and the Tileston School,” says Ginger R. Davis, executive director of the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society.
Also noteworthy is the cottage at 311 Cottage Lane, which was artist Elizabeth Chant’s studio and became the preeminent art hub in early 20th-century Wilmington.
“Chant arrived in the Port City in 1922, rented the home on Cottage Lane and set up her studio,” Davis says. “She hoped to establish an art colony. She would become a teacher and mentor to local artists like Claude Howell, Henry Jay MacMillan and Hester Donnelly. Because of her efforts, Wilmington Museum of Art, the precursor to Cameron Art Museum, was founded.”
The annual Candlelight Tour is a fundraiser for the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, a nonprofit organization that maintains the Latimer House Museum and Gardens on S. 3rd Street. Further preserving Wilmington’s rich history, the Latimer House also houses historic archives.
Looking back to the 2024 tour, one tour stop was the historic home at 314 S. Front Street, which was reportedly built on a former Revolutionary War encampment site known as Sunset Hill. Present-day homeowners Jody and Bruce Kemp purchased the Queen Anne-style, two-story home in 2019. The home was built in 1899 as the residence of grocer and mercantile wholesaler Philander Pearsall, a native of Duplin County. His business, McNair & Pearsall, was in the three-story building at 214 N. Water Street. The house was next owned by widower Elijah Hewlett, who served as assistant general passenger agent for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad for 57 years.
While their home is not on the 2025 tour, the Kemps will still decorate.
“I love to challenge my own decorating skills,” Jody Kemp says. “Room by room, I planned the 2024 Candlelight Christmas historic tour by color in each room. Christmas decor is reflected in each room’s color palette.”
The Kemps’ home was a fine example of historic Wilmington architecture for the 2024 tour.
The four-bedroom, four-bath home, with multiple fireplaces, features heart pine and tiger oak parquet flooring. The quarter-acre lot, situated more than 30 feet above sea level, offers panoramic views of the Cape Fear River and the surrounding skyline. The Philander Pearsall house sits on the lot purchased by Mary Pearsall the previous year and appears on a 1900s Sandborn Insurance Company map.
The home’s original exterior character is evidenced by its irregular roof line, many chimneys and deep double porches on the front, back and second floor. The home has a cylindrical tower on the front (east) side, with plentiful windows (some are stained glass) in the romantic movement style of the Victorian era. A private driveway leads to an expansive rear yard overlooking the river.
Inside, a large wooden staircase ascends from the front foyer. Rooms offer 9-foot ceilings. To the left of the center foyer is a front parlor, which flows into the living room and then opens to a modern family room that extends across the rear of the house into the adjacent renovated kitchen. All are decorated each year to the enjoyment of the family and guests.
“I have always loved hospitality,” Kemp says. “Welcoming people into my home gives me great joy. Most of the time, visitors report feeling a sense of calm and being loved. I don’t believe this is me but the presence of the Holy Spirit in my home. This makes me happy. So, hospitality is essential to my love for people.”
Kemp sites education as part of her driving force to opening her home to visitors on the 2024 tour.
“I’ve come to appreciate the value of educating young people and anyone who might be interested in the value of preserving these beautiful old homes for posterity,” Kemp says. “I have enjoyed interior design for many years since I used to successfully buy and flip houses in the 1980s in New York and Virginia, as well as our Victorian home in Wilmington. Our history here in Wilmington is so rich that people who have lived here are all a part of it.”
WANT TO GO?
The Old Wilmington by Candlelight Tour
A fundraiser for the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society
latimerhouse.org
Saturday, December 6, 4 to 8 pm
Sunday, December 7, 1 to 5 pm
Early ticket sales online latimerhouse.org One ticket covers both days.
Tickets cost $45 until November 1, $50 after
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