Thanksgiving dinner or additional color to Christmas. Visitors interested

Thanksgiving dinner or additional color to Christmas. Visitors interested in these decorator items for themselves or for unique gifts are advised to come early. Since there are no “pre-opening sales,” the lines will be there on Saturday at 11 a.m.

The other part of the weekend activities is the tour of three Rappahannock County homes. These are chosen for their historic or architectural interest and this year feature a contemporary and twoportions of which date back to the mid and late 18th century.

We begin with the home of Herman and Carol Beard on Route 622 in Harris Hollow. This consists of two log homes, one formerly known as Riverside built on the site between 1780 and 1800, and joined to it, another built possibly about 1740.

Coming back into Washington, down Salem Avenue and almost to U.S. 211 we find "Home Base”, the new home of Judge Raynor and Lois Snead, built by them in 1988 and situated a few hundred yards from “Fairlea” which they built in 1960. Home Base derives its name from the fact that it is located on what had been the baseball diamond of the former Washington Elementary School across the street.

This cedar-sided contemporary Victorian farm house, with dormers and large porch, is reminiscent of farm houses of the Mid-West. It is surrounded by lawns and colorful flower borders with a formal garden in the rear from which there is a lovely view to the mountains in the west. Its outside appearance blies the interior with its suprising amount of living space. In the dormer is a complete, roomy, two bedroom, two bath apartment with a fireplace in its living room, plus an attic.

Crossing U.S. 211, two miles down Route 626 in Tiger Valley, we come to “The Oaks,” home of Bob and ^loan Herrema. The original four-room log house was built in 1749, expanded with a dining room