The Bristol Historical & Preservation Society is holding its House Tour 2024 on Saturday, Sept. 21, when 12 private homes, some of which have not been open for more than 25 years, will be available for public tours. Ticket holders will be invited to tour 12 private houses whose age and styles span more than 300 years of Bristol architectural history. Many houses are new to the tour, while some are all-time favorites.

“House Tour 2024 participants can expect to visit 12 private homes that show off Bristol’s impressive historic architecture,” said event co-chair Janie Dauterive. Added co-chair Larry Verria, “We are grateful to all our House Tour 2024 homeowners for opening their homes so that the public can learn more about about Bristol’s impressive architectural history.”

Included on this year’s tour is the National Historic Landmark Joseph Reynolds House, also known as the “Lafayette House,” which was built in 1698. It is the second-oldest structure standing in Bristol today and the oldest known three-story wooden house in New England. In addition to being the home of the Reynolds family, who were prominent in Rhode Island history, it is also where the Marquis de Lafayette based his Revolutionary War headquarters in 1778.

Another outstanding property on the tour is Seven Oaks, designed by New York City architect James Renwick, architect of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. This stone Gothic Revival-style home, with turrets, roof, cresting and spires, was built in 1873 for the founder of the National India Rubber company, Augustus O Bourne, who later served as governor of Rhode Island. Gutted in the early 1990s by developers, Seven Oaks was saved and re-created on the interior by a succession of owners, who poured their hearts and souls into the house.

New to the tour this year is the spectacular DeWolf-Guiteras House, which was originally Greek Revival in style, but remodeled by its next owners, Ramon and Elizabeth Guiteras, into the Stick Style, complete with a water powered elevator (since removed). Today, the house serves as an example of how an historic home can evolve over nearly 200 years to meet the needs of various owners and time periods.

Also new is a Tuscan villa attributed to architect Russell Warren and built for lawyer, judge, and politician Jonathan Russell Bullock. Warren’s use of triple arches is apparent on this structure, and is as remarkable as the patterned slate roof. Fearing that the steeple of the neighboring Methodist Episcopal Church would fall on his house during a storm, Bullock sold it 1871. Ultimately, Bullocks’ fears did come true when winds from the 1938 Hurricane topped the steeple, but it fell on the church itself, leaving the Bullock house unscathed.

Advance tickets are now available and can be purchased at BHPSri.org. Tickets cost $55 on the day of but are $45 if purchased in advance (members of the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society receive a discount). A shuttle will be available throughout the day of the tour, which is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.