Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Rotary Holiday House Tour brought thousands of ticket holders into seven decorated homes while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities at its 26th annual weekend event.
On Dec. 5 and 6, new and old houses opened across town, plus ticketed evening events at the MacArthur Estate, with organizers aiming to reach $200,000 for local community projects, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum expansion, youth programs and international aid.
The Holiday House Tour has raised more than $1.5 million since it began, including $260,000 in ticket sales last year, with $230,000 going directly to charity. Committee members estimate that about 3,500 general tour tickets were sold this year.
“This will be our best year; it’s also about 90 percent of the fundraising that we get during the year,” said Jamie Knight, past president of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club.
Earlier this fall, the Rotary Club presented a $100,000 cheque to the NOTL Museum’s $10-million expansion campaign, of which most proceeds came from the holiday tour and a third fundraising day at the MacArthur Estate.
Committee chair Carol Lipsett said planning stretches across most of the year, with a core group of about 20 Rotarians and roughly 300 community volunteers staffing the homes. Each site needs six to eight people at a time to move visitors through from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. over the two days.
“We like to have houses with character. The visitors really like to see a combination, so we have both new and old,” said Lipsett.
She said emails begin arriving in January from people asking for next year’s dates so they can book accommodation, with many tourists coming both from out of town, the U.S. and some travelling from Europe.
“I have had people come in and say they brought their children, and now they are bringing their grandchildren,” said Lipsett.
One of Lipsett’s recommended stops this year was the Music House on Gate Street, an 1823 building that once served as the original Methodist meeting house, and at one point a butcher shop.
Inside, visitors were treated to homeowner and musician Eric Harry performing on grand piano, harpsichord, vintage glass harmonica and a 1615 viola da gamba.
“It has been so much fun. People love the music room and hearing the instruments. They have really been enjoying the experience,” said Laura Harry, homeowner.
Harry said she and her husband are new to Niagara-on-the-Lake and saw the tour as a direct way to contribute to the town.
On Brock Street, visitors stepped into The Cottage, a contemporary home with hickory floors, an oak staircase and views of a treed back garden.
“My wife came to me and said, Do you know what I have done? She volunteered last year and decided to send in the application. We have had a lot of fun doing it,” said homeowner Mark Brown.
Inside the “BC room,” guests viewed a working grandfather clock from 1870, along with a painting of Rose Cottage in Oakville that inspired the home’s exterior.
Although not part of the daytime ticket this year, the MacArthur Estate remains central to Rotary’s holiday fundraising through separate Merry & Bright and Victorian Candlelight tours.
Owner Brenda MacArthur said decorating the estate starts on Oct. 31 and involves a close-knit team that returns each year to dress the house and grounds for three nights of evening tours.
“We all know that’s the date that we’re ready to get everything down from the barn, and the girls work with me. We have fun doing it, lots of laughs, lots of wine,” said MacArthur.
The Friends of Fort George also participated in the MacArthur house tour. Leading the front of the tour, teaching guests about the long history of the building and its owners, extending over two centuries.
Local filmmaker Christine Dore-Scaini is following the work behind the tour with a small documentary project focused on the MacArthur Estate and the broader tour.
She and her husband, director Stefan Scaini, moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake from Mississauga and began filming last year.
“We discovered the event last year, and Brenda (MacArthur) said we needed a behind-the-scenes documentary because it is so much fun. That is how it all started,” said Dore-Scaini.
Scaini has directed films for Hallmark movies, and Dore-Scaini is hopeful the success of the behind-the-scenes project may raise interest for a larger documentary project next year.
Rotary volunteers will now tally final numbers before taking the rest of December off. In January, the committee plans to review what worked, confirm next year’s list of homes, and, if all goes well, watch Dore-Scaini’s finished film as they begin planning the 2026 tour.
