Mary Margaret Quiggle and Jinanne Parrish of the John Lee of Nansemond Chapter, Colonial Dames Seventeenth Century, assisted the staff of the Thomasville History Center in decorating the Lapham-Patterson House for Christmas and the New Year. The chapter chose the dining room table, the plate racks and one sideboard to decorate. The table theme is “A Royal Feast,” featuring Noritake Royal Hunt china and Lenox Navarre crystal. The center piece for the table consists of plaid table runners and three silver Revere bowls filled with scented pine cones and holly.

The Lapham-Patterson House is managed by the Thomasville History Center and was built in 1884-1885 as a winter cottage for a Quaker, a shoe merchant from Chicago, C. W. Lapham. The architectural style is Queen Anne Whimsey. There are approximately 50 exits in the house as Mr. Lapham was deathly afraid of fire, having lived through the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It is one of 40 sites in the National Register of Historic Places in Thomas County.

The house is located at 626 North Dawson St., Thomasville, and is available for rent for small to medium-size groups. Tours are available Friday, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. This would be a great time to visit the house while it is seasonally and festively decorated.