LEWISBURG - The kitchen in her Victorian-style home on Lewisburg's East Washington Street is Jan DeHaven's favorite room.
Her picture-perfect kitchen has new stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops and large windows with a view of her spacious backyard - and she hopes others will enjoy it, too.
"This is my room," she said with a smile. "I like the style. There are so many things about the style. It's a very comfortable home."
Her kitchen, along with the rest of the home - which dates back to the 1860s - will be one of five homes and gardens on display June 11 as part of the 35th Lewisburg Home and Garden Tour.
DeHaven and her husband, James, purchased the 2,900- square-foot home in Lewisburg two years ago as a retirement home. The couple, who are originally from Alabama, spent nearly two years renovating the home - replacing flooring, adding onto the kitchen, painting the rooms and completing other projects to make their "dream home." The DeHavens' three-bedroom home features bay windows and intricate carvings under the gables and porch.
The first recorded owner was Mary Ann Lewis, who purchased the house in 1866. Lewis was the great niece of General Andrew Lewis, who the town of Lewisburg is named after.
DeHaven said she has had a passion for redoing historic homes since she was a little girl admiring the antebellum homes in her small town in Alabama. The Home and Garden Tour will give her the opportunity to meet people in her new town - while showing off their piece of West Virginia history.
"I grew up in a smaller town in Alabama that used to be a very wealthy town a long time ago. They had big, beautiful antebellum homes that are just deteriorating. I've always, my whole life, wanted to be in one," she said. "It still gives me that feeling of redoing something and making it good. It really has been something I've wanted to do since I was a little girl."
The Home and Garden Tour will take guests on a tour of five homes and their respective gardens from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each of the homes has been restored uniquely to reflect historic and modern restoration. Homes on the tour range in age from 86 to 171 years old. The tour will also include a sixth stop at a hillside that has been transformed into a large garden filled with trees, bushes, perennials and annuals.
Organizers Sue McKinney and Barbara Tuckwiller said as many as 700 people are expected to take the tour, which is sponsored by Lewisburg's four garden clubs: Bluebells, Greenbrier Gardeners, Lewisburg House & Garden, and Savannah.
Don and Marit Withrow spent hours outside preparing their back porch and garden on East Foster Street Wednesday for the tour.
The two purchased their home four years ago as their summer home, where they spend the summer months vacationing after winters in St. Louis.
"We call it paradise. That's what we call it," Marit Withrow said.
Their vacation home, named the Vickerage, was built in 1910 by John and Mary Strealy. Ruth Woods Dayton purchased the home in 1955 and gifted it to the Rev. George Vick, then the minister of First Presbyterian Church in Charleston. It has since served as a vacation home for several families.
Today, the home has been extensively renovated and is filled with the Withrows' vast antique collection.
But Marit Withrow's favorite part of the home isn't what's inside - it's her garden.
Each spring, she spends hours every day tending to her array of plants.
In her garden you'll find a range of plants including Salvia, deer resistant Green Giant evergreen trees, a rare Persian Witch Hazel tree and SunPatiens that can grow in the sun and shade.
"I just love it. I just enjoy it. I think a lot of people do," she said. "It's an opportunity to create something. Every garden is different. You can buy the same plants, but it's going to turn out differently because people put them together differently. It's fun. I also enjoy the house. We paid a contractor six months to work on it. Major, major changes. But we enjoy that, too. And we also enjoy shopping for the furniture. We have a lot of antique furniture and we enjoy that."
The Lewisburg Home and Garden Tour will mark the first tour the couple has participated in, and Withrow said she's excited to showcase the community she loves.
"I used to live in a historic district for about 30 years, and I was never on the tour and felt guilty about it," she said. "I thought, 'Well, this would be a good house to put on tour.' People enjoy them so much. It's a good way to promote the community."
After the tour concludes at 4 p.m., guests are invited to the General Lewis Inn for refreshments, a drawing and a silent auction with items from each garden club. The proceeds from the auction will go toward area beautification projects.
Tickets are $20 and are available at the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the North House and from members of the area's garden clubs. Tickets will also be available at each of the homes the day of the tour.
Stops on the tour include a home and garden at 402 East Washington Street, a home and garden at 303 East Foster Street, a home and garden at 210 Seneca Trail, a home and garden at 306 East Washington Street, a home at the intersection of Echols Lane and Davis Street, and a garden at the intersection of Alderson Street, Highland Circle and Comstock Street.
For more information and a list of homes on the tour, visit greenbrierwv.com or https://www.facebook.com/Lewisburghgtours/?fref=nf.
Reach Carlee Lammers at Carlee.Lammers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @CarleeLammers on Twitter.
Lewisburg Home and Garden Tour
WHEN: June 11, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
WHERE: Lewisburg
TICKETS: Tickets are $20. Call 800-833-2068, visit greenbrierwv.com or purchase at the event.