For 364 days of the year, you can only wonder about the houses you see as you travel our roads. Every time you pass, you might think to yourself, is that beautiful house a decades-old Colonial Revival — or a centuries-old Colonial? And then it flashes past, and your questions remains unanswered.

  But on the first Saturday in October, you can get what might well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk inside those houses that always caught your eye, to stroll their grounds, to see them from the inside and hear their stories. On October 4, 2008, just as it has happened for 68 years, the Chester County Day house tour will give you a chance to see a selection of the area’s most architecturally and historically significant houses — some you may have seen every day, and others on back roads — remarkable buildings you might never see in your life if not for this opportunity.

  This year, the tour focuses on the southwest quadrant of Chester County, featuring about 25 homes and historic landmarks in Birmingham, Chadds Ford, Chatham, Cochranville, East Fallowfield, Kennett Square, Lincoln University, New London, Unionville, West Grove and West Chester.

Ravenroyd

  One house on the tour that might well have caught your eye in your travels is a pristine Colonial about a mile west of Route 52 on Route 926, Street Road. A large mansion with dormer windows, it’s tucked into a little valley and partly hidden by tall trees. In the spring of 2001, Cheryl and Anthony Sciscione had been looking for an old house to live in for several years, but even though they lived nearby, this one almost eluded them — it had languished on the market for a year, in part because the road was being worked on, and in part because the uninhabited house had been sadly neglected.

  But the Scisciones finally saw it one day. Cheryl immediately saw the house’s potential; Anthony was struck more by the tremendous amount of renovation it needed. The once-grand house was called “Ravenroyd,” after the original home in England of its builders, Sarah and Abraham Parker. Their family owned it for the next 150 years. But by the time the Scisciones found it, the plaster and wallpaper needed fixing, the kitchen had to be redone, and none of the bathrooms worked. The Scisciones put in air conditioning, got one bathroom working, then moved in and started the long process of renovation.

  Today the hardwood floors gleam like they did in the 18th century, the house is furnished with elegance and taste. Of particular note is the living room, where two upholstered chairs flank a fireplace with a decorative tile surround and an unusual woodwork cabinet that rises from the gleaming hardwood floor to the ceiling. But the entire house is full of similar furnishings, and if the Parkers could take the tour with everyone else, it’s entirely possible they’d be delighted to see the home they built restored to its original glory.

Liondale

  Another stately Colonial easily visible from Street Road is Liondale. It sits on some flat farmland, well back from the road east of Willowdale. Anyone passing can get a long look at it. Like Ravenroyd, it too had fallen on hard times when James and Ann Sinclair saw the “For Sale” sign and bought the property in April 2002.

  On his first visit, James Sinclair walked through it with a videocamera, describing the renovations he envisioned. Then he handled the project himself, having grown up helping in his father’s Kennett Square building and contracting business. The Sinclairs restored the parts of the house that dated from 1715, 1806, and 1934, then added kitchen, den and dining room.

  Today the house is decorated not only with antiques that complement the historic home, but with a variety of collectibles. Throughout are notable examples of ceramic pieces, including many the Sinclairs found while they lived in Europe. One cabinet holds a wide assortment of fox-hunting figures — horses, hounds, and riders — and an assortment of pitchers and cups with a similar theme.

  “I love surrounding myself with old beautiful things,” Sinclair says. “I love surrounding myself with history. It gives me stability, in a sense.”

  An eighth-generation area native, Sinclair feels a personal connection to Liondale. “I’m sure my ancestors were here,” he says. “I’m absolutely sure my ancestors walked around in this house.”

Harlan Log House

  Ravenroyd and Liondale are large houses on a major Chester County thoroughfare. But the Harlan Log House is tucked away on a less-traveled road, a mile or so west of Route 52 on Fairville Road. Even if you did go past, you might not see through the screen of trees that it is made of logs and lined with layers of fieldstone, a type of construction seen only in the oldest structures in the county.

  Owner Beverly McCausland says it was probably built in the 1720s. Like many area homes, it had been stuccoed over and remodeled in Gothic style during the 19th century, but a later owner took the stucco off and let the original house emerge again.

  McCausland built an addition in 1990 and began operating the house as a bed-and-breakfast in 1996, furnishing it with period antiques — a collection of blue and white Chinese export porcelain is displayed on shelves in the living room, for example, and centuries-old cooking utensils she’ll actually use for a special dinner. But the grounds are furnished in a timeless, eclectically whimsical way. McCausland turned a swimming pool into a koi pond, and statues are dotted here and there on the tree-sheltered, gently sloping grounds.

  McCausland says one of her acquaintances, Betty McCord, lived in the house years ago and remembers when sheep grazed all the way to a nearby school that she attended.

Fairview School

  That former school, now a home that is also on the tour this year, was called the Fairview School and was likely built in 1866 and closed in 1931, according to its present owner, Alice Hupfel.

  The white stucco building’s facade has columns and the isosceles triangle shape that Americans once used in school buildings in homage to the intellectual traditions of classical Greece. Originally it had one large schoolroom, a kitchen and offices for staff, although additions were made over the years.

  Hupfel, who worked at the Delaware Art Museum for 30 years, has filled her house with a collection of contemporary art. “It’s cluttered with art objects, sculpture, all kinds of fun things, I think,” Hupfel says. The walls in particular are nearly covered with contemporary works. But the furniture includes many country and traditional pieces.

  The property’s educational past is embodied in an old inkwell that someone found while excavating on the property. Hupfel is also having the traditional school bell reproduced; it will be in place for Chester County Day.

Hannum Home

  Buzz and Ellie Hannum’s house, on Upland Road just west of Unionville, is another house you might catch a glimpse of as you went by. And it was once a school as well, the Upland Country Day School. Hannum actually attended it as a child, hardly imagining it would be his home one day.

  The structure you see today was built in the 19th century, Hannum says, and it has an unusual design, like a foreshortened saltbox shape, that is strikingly contemporary-looking. But the house and grounds are rooted in the centuries past. Its oldest part was built in the late 1600s, and Hannum says it’s believed that up the hill is an Indian burial ground.

  Hannum says he and his family, who have roots far back in Chester County’s past, are working with the Brandywine Conservancy and the Natural Lands Trust to preserve the land so that everyone can continue to enjoy it.

  All the other homes and landmarks on this year’s Chester County Day tour have owners equally willing to serve as caring stewards of the area’s architectural heritage. Because of them, and the tour’s organizers, too, visitors can explore fascinating buildings they can only wonder about on other days on this special first Saturday in October.

  For that one day, they can surround themselves with beauty and feel a connection to the past — something that, as Sinclair says, can help people feel grounded in a world that seems increasingly frenetic and ephemeral.

  Modern art and ancient burial grounds, centuries-old stone and trees and gardens that rejuvenate themselves with every spring — there’s a sweeping grandeur to it all. Usually you need to slow down, stop, and walk through these special places to fully sense it. And on the first Saturday in October, you can. -CL-

68 Years of Days 

  The first Chester County Day was held in 1936, and with a few exceptions, has been held yearly ever since. The Tour has raised more than $3.5 million for Chester County Hospital, and each year attracts visitors from across the United States and Canada.

  This year’s tour focuses on the southwest quadrant of Chester County, including Birmingham, Chadds Ford, Chatham, Cochranville, East Fallowfield, Kennett Square, Lincoln University, New London, Unionville, West Grove and West Chester. Homes are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and for those interested, the “Day” begins at 9 a.m. with a traditional foxhunt at The Cheshire Hunt in Unionville (cars must be parked by 8:30). Visitors may follow a self-guided tour or reserve space on a guided tour bus.

  Tickets are limited, nonrefundable and available by mail, online, or at several area locations. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $35 ($40 the day of the tour, if available); bus tour tickets are $55.

  Ticket holders receive a map, program and admission to a preview presentation, which shows photos of the properties on the tour. Check the website for dates, times and locations of the preview presentations, some of which are held at Longwood Gardens and at the Chester County Historical Society. (Note: There will not be previews at the Chester County Courthouse this year.)

  Visit cchosp.com, call 610-431-5301 or check the Chester County Day newspaper for more information. The tour is sponsored by the Women's Auxiliary to The Chester County Hospital.