Houses on tour will include 222 Gills Neck Road, the home of Mary Anne Murray and B.J. Clark; 9 Rehoboth Ave., the home of Tracy Mulveny; 121 Jefferson Ave., the home of John and Lisa Zechiel; 109 E. Fourth St., the home of Sue Ingram and Bert Keller; 408 W. Fourth St., the home of Frederick and Sylvia Lahvis; 435 Park Ave., the home of Hugh and Kathleen Leahy; 309 Mulberry St., the home of George Farrah and Tom Mounteer; and 103 Shipcarpenter St., the home of Sam and Mariah Calagione.

The Calagione home is believed to have been built around 1870 and has a 2004 addition by local architect John Mateyko that features his signature window seat. The addition was constructed by Leon Ware of Creative Builders. A cozy, family-oriented home, the furnishings include pieces that have a great deal of meaning and uniqueness behind them: wood from Sam’s family home in Massachusetts, the kitchen island which was recovered from Sussex Central High School, Sam’s father’s desk in the small den and Grandma’s blue chair in the living room.

Local pieces also add warmth to the family home. The dining table was purchased at The Lewes Historical Society Craft Fair, and the TV stand is from the Lewes Antiques Mercantile. A cabinet in Mariah’s office was recovered from an old Lewes home on Park Avenue. A beautiful watercolor by Grier Calagione also adorns the walls of Mariah’s office.

The Calagiones, proprietors of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, have decorated their home with some of the original artwork that has graced their beers.

The house’s appeal goes beyond the historic nature of the house, its architecture or furnishings. “I love the location. We’re in town, on the canal,” Mariah noted. “I love the activity every day: the boats heading out on the canal and the Lewes Dairy trucks making their way down Front Street. It’s wonderful to walk almost anywhere we need to go.”

Beyond the eight private homes on tour this year, the society’s museums will be open and decorated for the season, and local organizations such as the Col. David Hall Daughters of the American Revolution chapter and the Zwaanendael Club will open their doors to the public. Local churches offer a variety of lunches and sales in their halls aside from tours of their historic sanctuaries.

A great selection of gifts will be on hand at the society’s Museum Shop the day of the tour, and the shop will also be open weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dec. 6, 11, 12, 18 and 19. Lewes Historical Society members always receive a 10 percent discount on museum shop purchases. Always a favorite, the Christmas Bazaar will be held once again at the Rabbit’s Ferry House featuring antiques and collectibles for sale as well as fresh Sussex County greens for decorating and delicious baked goods and hot mulled cider.

Tickets can be purchased in Lewes at the society, at the Lewes Chamber of Commerce and the Zwaanendael Museum, both on Kings Highway, and on Second Street at Trader’s and Habersham Peddler. In Rehoboth Beach, tickets may be purchased at Browseabout Books on Rehoboth Avenue. Advance tickets are $15 each; tickets purchased the day of the tour are $20 each.

Tickets can be purchased over the phone (302-645-7670) or by stopping at the society’s offices at 110 Shipcarpenter St. in Lewes. Ticket mail-order and phone requests received after Nov. 25 will be held at the Ellegood House Museum Shop at the Historic Complex and will be available for pickup beginning at 9:30 a.m. the day of the tour.