Carolyn Baker-Moore was born, grew up and married in the Baker House. Although she no longer lives there, It will always be a part of her.
“This house means everything to me,” Baker-Moore, 86, said Saturday. “It’s my life.”
Every year, during the holiday season, the Baker House becomes part of life for many Villagers. It opens for guided tours.
Two more are scheduled for Dec. 29, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., and Dec.30, from noon until 3 p.m. The cost is $10 per person and the house is located at 6106 County Road 44A in Wildwood. For information, call (352) 461-0134.
A tour through the Baker House might be described as a walk through history. The two-story house was built by Sen. David H. Baker sometime around 1886. It features porches on both floors and a separate, two-story kitchen house. Stained glass windows, hardwood floors and colorful Christmas decorations, along with early 1900s antique furnishings, give it a warm, historical ambience.
The house was donated to the City of Wildwood in 2012 and volunteers from The Villages and throughout the area worked hard to remodel it. The house is always decorated for Christmas. All money raised from tours goes to the Baker House restoration.
“I’m so grateful to the people of The Villages and everyone else who works so hard to keep the house open,” said Baker-Moore, who lives in Wildwood near The Baker House and is the great-granddaughter of Sen. Baker. “This house is a big part of our family and now it’s part of the community.”
About 100 people a day take the tour, a Baker House tour guide said. Beth Crouch Payne has been involved with the Baker House since 2012 and volunteers as a tour guide. Like all the tour guides, she was dressed in Victorian fashions, which complements the history of the house.
“When the house was first donated, I remember going up in the attic and seeing all the great furnishings and mementos – for me it was like Christmas and the Fourth of July all rolled into one,” Payne said.
She grew up near the Baker House and knew members of the family.
“I used to see it every day on my way to school,” Payne said. “To work here is a dream come true. For me, it’s like being in a Cinderella castle.”
Not only that, “but this house makes history come alive,” Payne added.
Bottom row, from left: Baker House tours begin in a foyer near the front entrance. Visitors will find many interesting things during the tours, including a variety of festive Christmas decorations scattered throughout the historic facility.
Tanya Mikeals, another tour guide, shares that feeling.
“For me, the Baker House is a personal history,” she said. “I remember it when I was growing up and it’s wonderful to see it now, with so many people who come to enjoy it.”
Villager Sandy Fuller was giving kitchen tours on a recent weekend.
“This house reminds me of my grandmother’s house,” Fuller said. “She had a big house and a farm. I used to go to her house all the time. Being here brings back so many memories.”
And those memories come alive during the Christmas season.
“It makes the holiday even more special,” Fuller said.
The following events are scheduled for the Baker House:
- Jan. 12: Open for tours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Feb. 2: Great Gatsby Murder Mystery, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Feb. 9: Open for tours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Feb. 23: Victorian Tea Party, time to be determined.
- Mar. 9: Heritage Festival, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- April 13: Open for tours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- April 26: Movies Under the Stars, 8 p.m.
Tony Violanti is a veteran journalist and writes for Villages-News.com.
