New Christmas tour to showcase historic Shreveport homes | Arts & Culture

Step-on tour guide Jan Pettiet recently announced the addition of Candlelight Christmas Tours, a guided tour featuring two of Shreveport’s most historic homes: the Logan Mansion and the Davis Homeplace.

The tours, scheduled for 6 to 8:30 p.m., Dec. 6, 7, 13 and 14, will depart from the overlook parking lot in downtown Shreveport’s Festival Plaza. Participants will ride on a shuttle provided by A-1 Charter Service. Tickets are $20 per person, and they can be purchased online by going to yesterdayslady.eventbrite.com.

The Candlelight Christmas Tours are the newest addition to north central Louisiana’s Holiday Trail of Lights, which features popular attractions, festivals, holiday markets, live music events and more in Shreveport-Bossier, Minden, Monroe, West Monroe, Natchitoches, Alexandria and Pineville.

Both homes have been featured in a number of Pettiet’s previous tours, and each tells a unique story of a chapter of Shreveport’s past. The Logan Mansion was built in 1897 by wealthy beer distributor and pioneer Lafayette Robert Logan. With its Queen Anne Victorian-style architecture, the residence was home to some of the area’s wealthiest residents at the turn of the century.

Nearly 15 years later, the Davis Homeplace was built in 1916 by Ella Hunt Montgomery, whose family had several plantations in Natchez and the surrounding areas before she settled in Shreveport. The Davis Homeplace was built in the popular foursquare architectural style, which Pettiet said was more common in Shreveport at that time than in any other city in the state. These days, the homes remain private residences open to visitors only by appointment. During the holiday season, they go into full swing with exquisite decorations throughout.

“You’ll get to see quite a few things. For instance, in one of the Logan Mansion’s smaller rotundas, you’ll see the 10-foot decorated tree and it’s just spectacular,” Pettiet said. “Also, in the Davis Homeplace, she has a very large tree in the front, professionally decorated. Everything is just very special for the holidays,” Pettiet says.
 
A limited number of seats remain available for each of the four scheduled tours. Tickets may be purchased at yesterdayslady.eventbrite.com. All tickets are non-refundable. For more information, contact Jan Pettiet at (318) 949-9831.

Visit www.HolidayTrailofLights.com to create an emailable itinerary of Holiday Trail of Lights events, see photos from past events or sign up for e-mail alerts. Holiday Trail of Lights information can also be found at www.facebook.com/HolidayTrailofLights.