Holiday Grandeur on the 54th Annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour 2025

Historic Oakwood has always been a neighborhood we’ve dreamed of living in, and the annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour further cemented that!

On the 13th and 14th December 2025, join us for the 54th annual candlelight tour, as we wander the streets on an unusually balmy evening enjoying the beautiful homes decorated for Christmas.

We’re so looking forward to experiencing the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour again this year. Craig’s parents will be visiting from Australia to experience all the Christmas festivities in Raleigh and we can’t wait to take them to this unique Southern event.

We’ve visited for the past four years in a row, and have loved walking the streets, chatting to fellow house hunters, looking at the stunning Christmas decorations in these historic homes, meeting the owners (sometimes) and learning more about the history and architecture of the homes.

I’m in awe of how warm and gracious the Oakwood residents are about sharing the history of their historic properties and the stories of those who lived there (old and current). It’s another reminder of why we love living in Raleigh so much.

If you’re thinking of exploring the Historic Oakwood neighborhood on the Candlelight tour, here is everything you need to know!

What is the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour?

The annual Historic Oakwood Candlelight walking tour is produced by the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood. In 2025, it will be celebrating its 54th year.

The event takes place over one weekend, always in December, where visitors can admire the architecture and learn about the history and historic preservation of a select number of homes in the Oakwood neighborhood, including entering inside.

Because you are allowed to enter the homes, only a limited number of tickets are sold, as these are homes that people genuinely live in, so book in advance to ensure availability.

It’s a self-guided tour, with a map you can follow and information by way of the app (it’s recommended to use headphones when using the app). You can walk around at your own pace and each ticket purchased goes to the continued running of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood (SPHO).

You cannot re-enter homes, and there are no refunds incase of illness, so don’t rush between houses.

You can tour the homes in any order you wish. You can see the holiday decorations on the outside of each home but can also tour the interior. Each home is staffed with docents who will tell you about the rich history of each property and architectural styles of these homes, sometimes it’s the homeowners themselves.

History of the Oakwood Candlelight Tour

Apart from the unique Holiday grandeur you can experience on this tour, a reason to REALLY love it, is it saved this historic district in Raleigh, the only intact nineteenth century neighborhood in Raleigh.

It’s also one of the only times of year where you can go beyond the front porches and tour homes that are otherwise off limits to outsiders – they are owned and lived in, not just a piece of history!

Most of the homes were built in the mid-1800s and built using a Victorian architectural style. By 1970, Oakwood was rundown and earmarked for urban renewal and the state had planned to demolish half of the neighborhood to put a highway through the middle of it.

The neighbors joined together to form the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood and keep the developers at bay. The Candlelight tour was their Special Forces.

The thoroughfare plan was thwarted, and the neighborhood revitalization of the Victorian, Queen Anne, and Craftsman architectural styles continues to this day.

Thank you to the residents for coming together to fight this and proving this neighborhood should be persevered. While you’ll see and learn about many of the homes in the neighborhood dating back to the 1800s to the early 1900s, there are also several modern homes with their own stories to tell.

When is the tour in 2025?

In 2025, the tour is on Saturday, December 13 & Sunday, December 14 from 1pm-7pm both days. Tickets are valid for one day only and you can’t re-enter properties. This year ticket prices are $43 for regular tickets, and $40 per person for groups of 10 or more. You can purchase tickets here.

You check in at Tucker House (418 North Person Street) to begin the tour. You’ll receive a TicketSpice voucher(s) with QR code, which you will use to check-in. You can save it to your Apple Wallet, print it, get it emailed to you, or SMS text. When you check in, you will receive a map of the neighborhood and the location of each property on tour.

You may check in any time after 12:30 PM, however, homes don’t open until 1:00pm. While here you can enjoy complimentary refreshments of cookies and cider served by volunteers at The Tucker House. There will also be portable restrooms here.

Video of the Candlelight Tour in Oakwood [2020]

What does the Historic Oakwood Candlelight tour cost?

• Tickets to the Candlelight Tour in Oakwood are $43 per person. Children under 6 are free when with a paying adult. Groups of 10 or more can get a special rate of $40 per person, so gather all your friends.
• You can purchase online or in person at The Tucker House on tour days. This tour always sells out, so I’d buy them online beforehand to be sure.
• All ticket sales are final and the Historic Candlelight tour of the homes in Oakwood is on rain, hail, or shine! Pack your raincoat just in case!
• Starting location is The Tucker House, 418 N. Person Street. Each featured house will also have a small sign in their yard indicating what stop they are on the tour. You will also have your information booklet and map to guide you!

Our Oakwood Candlelight Tour Experience

I’ve never experienced a feeling of a small town community in a city before – not in any other places we’ve visited! Perhaps, we have just not noticed or sought it out, but I think this is one of those unique Raleigh experiences that sprinkles in a little history with a festive spirit that lives by the city’s motto:

“Y’all welcome here”.

So much, that they’ll decorate their Oakwood homes for you each year with particular ornaments and color schemes that tell stories of hope, tradition, and gratitude.

I can’t imagine this happening in Australia, where we open our homes up to strangers to come look inside.

Two of the strangest cultural differences that stood out to us when we first moved over to Raleigh was that many homes were not separated by fences, it was just an open passageway from one to the other, and that Americans tend to sit on their front porches, watching the world go by and waving as you passed, hoping for a little social chit chat.

Australians’ close off our properties with fences and tend to sit out the back on the privacy of our decks. Less common is to see people hanging out on their front porches.

It took us awhile to unwind those cultural fences and adapt to this welcoming, friendly style. So much that now I can see myself adding our (dream) historic Oakwood home to the Candlelight Tour list each year, with doors wide open and welcoming cocktails in hand to show you how these Aussies adapted to decorate their homes!

We would add a little traditional flair mixed in with a surfing Santa with elves dressed in flip-flops and board-shorts. Now we’ve just got to buy the home!

UPDATE: the above paragraph was written in 2020, and then guess what we saw in 2021:

YEP! A surfing Santa in flip flops on the porch welcoming in those on the Candlelight tour!

And then as we were leaving this house the owner walked past who we recognized. We had met him only a few weeks before at Pellagric Beer, Oakwood’s friendly neighborhood watering hole!

Bill is now a friend of ours, and we popped in to chat with him and his family before last year’s candlelight tour! I just love Raleigh!

What to see on the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour (favorites from previous tours)

It’s up to the owners of each home as to whether they want to join the tour and open their doors to the public.

It takes a lot of work to prepare elaborate themes and decorations, tell the historical stories of the home, and then hand over the home for a several hours for two days to have strangers walk through.

Each year, a minimum of ten homes take part, sometimes more. Some of the homes that took part in past tours may not be open for the 2025 tour as they change each year, but in previous years, we have really enjoyed visiting this community of homes…

304 Oakwood

This home was featured in the 1983 Brainstorm movie featuring Natalie Wood.

I loved learning about the Second Empire-style tower, similar to the Second Empire Restaurant on Hillsborough Street which was built by the same builder!

318 Oakwood

I loved the symbolism of this Victorian cottage’s design. Purple was chosen to evoke calm in what has been a chaotic year and to bring hope for 2025!

There are several large teddy bears that symbolize security, unconditional love and happiness.

806 N. Bloodworth Street

I loved the upside-down Christmas tree inside the large cape myrtle on the front lawn.

Not just symbolic of this year, but also a symbol of the Holy Trinity used by a Benedictine monk in the 7th Century.

601 Leonidas Court

Tucked into a cul-de-sac opposite Oakwood Cemetery is the Phillip’s-Hallam House built in 1994 and owned by Greg Hallam and Madonna Philipp’s, a nationally acclaimed artist.

We loved the “Sparkle” themed holiday decorations of this. In 2021, we were able to go inside the home and see some of Madonna’s artwork in her gallery.

504 N. East St

Props have to be given to the owner who climbs out onto the pitched roof each year to hang the wreath on the turret.

The owner and her friends were coming outside of the house as we were gawking. They told us just how dangerous her commitment to holiday decorations was! We thanked her!

229 Elm Street

Want to kiss under the mistletoe? Head to this Neoclassical Revival style home built in 1908. It hangs over the historic oak tree over the sidewalk.

What I appreciated more was this tree is also the Cancer Caring tree. You can select a ribbon from the box to hang from the tree as a reminder to all those fighting cancer to stay strong. This is also a home not to miss during Halloween!

516 E Jones Street

The largest and second-oldest home in Oakwood is the Thompson-Anderson-Allen-Robertson House.

It’s beautifully decorated with welcoming seasonal greens, cones, fruit and red ribbons. Many charitable events and concerts are held here – yes please!

Some beautiful interiors

I can’t remember a lot of the homes we entered during the 2021 tour, and I no longer have the map to help me.

But here are some photos from the 2021 Candlelight tour so you can get a glimpse of what to expect when you tour these wonderful homes.

Things to know before you go

Below are some tips for making it an enjoyable experience and some important things to know before you tour properties in Historic Oakwood…

• Of course, the Oakwood Candlelight Tour is best viewed at night, but that’s when it will be busiest, and you may encounter waits to get into the properties.
• This year the Oakwood Candlelight Tour will have ten homes you can visit and will range from century-old Victorian homes to charming bungalows, all decorated for the holidays.
• We allowed three hours for the tour, but really needed four, as there were a few we missed by the 7pm end.
• We recommend you walk between the homes – it’s easy enough to do, and parking will be a nightmare otherwise. Walking from house to house is part of the experience, as many of the homes in this neighborhood will be decorated for Christmas even if they aren’t a tour home.
• For the protection of the homes, do not wear high heel shoes. Wear shoes with hard soles.
• Make sure you plan your route out first to save you walking back and forth. Wear comfortable shoes as there is a lot of walking.
• I feel like Jones St is the grandest street in Oakwood (it has the largest homes anyway) so we tend to go there first before the crowds gather, and then circle around.
• The homes at the back near Oakwood Cemetery seem to have less crowds, but definitely worth a visit.
• Each year features different homes on the tour, so be sure to check the map as some of the streets mentioned above may not have homes for the current year.
• As these are historic homes, many may not be suitable for accessiblility needs.
• This tour is not great for toddlers. Strollers are not allowed inside the property, so any child who is unable to walk will need to be carrier.
• Children under 6 years of age enter free.
• No smoking is allowed inside the properties.
• Photography is not allowed in some properties – be sure to ask before taking photos.
• There will be portable toilets and a restroom trailer at The Tucker House for ticket holders.

Where to park

On-street parking is available throughout Oakwood, but space is limited. Free parking is available on weekends in the State parking lots #14 and #35, north and south of the nearby Governor’s Mansion.

Overflow parking can be found at the North Carolina Medical Society parking lot.

What to do after the Oakwood Candlelight Tour: Explore North Person St

We’re always looking at ways we can enhance an experience. We rarely show up just for an event and then leave. We always incorporate a coffee, beer, or something to eat – so if you want to know what to do after you’ve admired the immaculate historic homes, here is what to do after.

Historic Oakwood is located right near North Person St in the middle of downtown Raleigh, so you have lots of options before or after the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour.

Stop in for a meal, or even a beer at Standard Beer + Food, which has a lot of outdoor space right next door to the neighborhood garden.

We love the neighborhood feel of Pelagic Beer or William and Company, and we love La Velodara cocktail bar hidden behind the curtain at Wilco.

We’ve done all three before our candlelight tour and nwhen the girls were with us we picked up a few doughnuts from Krispy Kreme for them. There’s also Two Roosters if the kids prefer ice-cream!

And if you are on a special date night experience, why not stop in at Crawford and Sons or Jolie afterward for a romantic dinner. And for families, you may want to grab a pizza at Oakwood Pizza Company after.

You can also do a bit of shopping at some of the cool boutique stores. See our guide to holiday shopping in Raleigh.

More Christmas Inspiration

Other holiday events you may want to pair this with in Raleigh are:

• The Dessertery at the Martin Marietta Center
• Illuminate Art Walk in Raleigh
• The Rink at Red Hat
• The Holiday Open House of the Executive Mansion or a candlelight concert.
• Our top things to do during Christmas in Raleigh
• December events in Raleigh.
• All you need to know for the Raleigh Christmas Parade
• Amazing Christmas Experiences in North Carolina including the fun Polar Express (for the little kids)
• North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary
• Illuminate the Holidays with these Christmas Light displays in Raleigh
• Where to see Santa in the Triangle.
• Enjoy the festive spirits at these holiday pop up Christmas bars in Raleigh

We have a holiday bucket list with many more ideas for ways to enjoy the festive season in Raleigh. It’s available to all members of our email community. It’s free and I regularly share free checklists, guides, insider tips, personal stories, fun finds and the best events in Raleigh you don’t want to miss. Join below 👇