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Marcella Yaremchuk, chairperson for the Women’s Club tour and tea, poses in the home’s dining room.
Every room of the Fleming Mansion has been decorated for Christmas.
Marcella Yaremchuk, chairperson for the Women’s Club tour and tea, poses in the home’s dining room.
Every room of the Fleming Mansion has been decorated for Christmas.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WV News) — This weekend, The members of the Greater Federation of Woman’s Clubs of Fairmont is inviting the public to its annual tea, cookies and house tour to see the beautiful surprises they discovered during COVID-19.
The event will take place at the Fleming Mansion at 300 First St. on Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The cost of the tour is a $10 donation.
The house was built in 1901, and served at the home of Thomas and Annie Sweeney until their deaths in 1937.
Annie Sweeney was a founding member of the GFWC, and the club has been meeting at the house continually since 1906. In 1938, the house was sold to the GFWC for the sum of $25,000.
The house features 18 rooms on three floors, all beautifully decorated for Christmas, and Saturday’s event will have all the traditions of a formal tea without the formality.
“You will be treated royally just like you would at a high tea but you may casually, at your leisure during your time tour the home,” Women’s Club member Mary Jo Thomas said. “If you want to spend your time on the first floor and not venture on up to the second or third floor, you are not restricted by a regulated tea and tour. It is much more relaxed and to do at your own pace.”
The tour is a self-guided, self-paced tour, so participants will be able to look at the talking points and stay in each room as long as they like.
“One of the reasons we are doing a self-guided tour is the fact that we have people who come every time we have the tour, who say it is never the same, and it isn’t,” said Thomas. “We have people say ‘We wish we had more time in the bride’s room.’ or ‘We wish we had time to look through the memorabilia.’ Well guess what? On a self-guided tour, you have that kind of time.”
There will also be Women’s Club members on each floor to answer questions and direct the guests to the nearest stair case.
“Each of the 18 rooms have been beautifully decorated for Christmas,” Marcella Yaremchuk, chairperson for the house tour and tea, said. “Each room is different than it was year before last. We have acquired some new pieces of furniture. We have moved some things around. We have transformed one of the rooms back into a bedroom as it would have been when the house was in use as a home.”
One of the biggest surprises the women found during the COVID-19 shutdown was in the kitchen.
The kitchen had been remolded years ago and a drop ceiling was installed. During the recent renovations in the kitchen, the women found another row of windows above the drop ceiling that had been painted over, as well as another row cabinets that was concealed above the drop ceiling.
“It was such a wonderful surprise,” Yaremchuk said. “We have replaced the ceiling and floor in the kitchen and raised the ceiling. It looks totally different. It is beautiful.”
The event is within walking distance of the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
“It will be warm and we will have refreshments,” said Yaremchuk. “It will be beautiful.”
Thomas said that for those who haven’t quite gotten into the holiday spirit, the tour might just be the nudge they need.
“If you are not in the holiday spirit, we guarantee you will be after you do this tour,” Thomas said.
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