Christmas at Maple Glade

The Oak Ridge Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) is selling raffle tickets for a private tour and dinner for four at historic Maple Glade, followed by tickets for tours of Christmas at Maple Glade. Raffle tickets are available now.
Tickets will be available for Christmas at Maple Glade on November 1.
Debbie Schoenfeld, chair of the Oak Ridge HPC, explained that the raffle tickets for the private tour and dinner for four will be drawn on November 1, and dinner will be served on December 5. Dinner is being provided by Bistro 150 and a special guided tour will be given.
Maple Glade will be open to the public for tours from December 6 – 8 and December 12 – 14.
Schoenfeld said this is a special event because Maple Glade isn’t normally open to the public. It will be a magical holiday event at the majestic historic home, fully furnished and decorated for the holidays by area designers and businesses.
Schoenfeld said the HPC decided to host the events for Maple Glade to help preserve the historic home.
“We knew that some of the properties at the Oak Ridge Military Academy campus were in need of repairs and maintenance, and we wanted to help them by holding an event where we would end up with the proceeds benefiting the historic preservation at the military academy,” she said. “It’s a beautiful historic piece of architecture. Inside it has beautiful oak trim and leaded glass and all the fireplaces are amazing. There is something to see in every room.”
According to the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form authored by Paul Fomberg in March 1982 and Oak Ridge Historic District Proposal authored by Kaye Graybeal on February 2, 1994, Maple Glade was built in 1905 as the home of co-principal and professor at Oak Ridge Military Academy J. Allen Holt. The house is square in plan with a hipped roof, and a rear gabled wing. Covered in asphalt shingles, the roof originally featured a balustrade deck on top. Three bays wide by four deep, the weather boarded house is dominated by a splendid Ionic pedimented portico with full entablature, rising two stories.
Corner boards on the house form pilasters with simple wood capitals. A one-story Doric porch stretches across the front of the house and down each side, ending in a matching porte-cochere on the west side, which projects from the porch.
The interior of Maple Glade features a central reception hall divided into two rooms, running from the front to the back, with rooms opening from each side. Parlors flank the entrance of the house, with library and dining room behind. The kitchen is contained in the wing. The stair rises from the rear portion of the hall, and bedrooms upstairs correspond to the rooms below. 
Original oak woodwork has remained intact throughout the house, and the architectural integrity has been well preserved. The house retains nearly all of its original interior woodwork, including a full complement of eight mantels of classical design adorned with colonnettes and mirrored overmantels.
The land where Maple Glade is located was deeded over to the Holts by Allen and John A. Lowery during the years 1889 to 1907, according to the Guilford County deed books. Maple Glade was built to replace J. Allen Holt’s home, a relatively elaborate Queen Ann style house, which burned in 1904. The home remained in the Holt family, later being occupied by J. Allen’s son, Earl, who was a professor and later principal of the school. It has survived with little alteration. The house was deeded over to the school in 1964, and now serves as the Oak Ridge Military Academy president’s house.
Schoenfeld encourages the community to purchase a ticket for Christmas at Maple Glade.
“It’s typically reserved as the residence of the president of the school, so it’s a rare opportunity to tour Maple Glade and see it dressed up for Christmas,” she said.
Raffle tickets for the private tour and dinner for four are $5/each or 5/$20. The tickets are available at Oak Ridge Town Hall, located at 8315 Linville Rd. in Oak Ridge; Bistro 150, located at 2205 Oak Ridge Rd.; or online at www.oakridgenc.com.
Christmas at Maple Glade tickets will be available to the public beginning November 1 and are $15 presale or $20 at the door.
Raffle and event proceeds benefit historic preservation at Oak Ridge Military Academy.
For more information, visit oakridgenc.com or call Oak Ridge Town Hall at 336-644-7009.