History and Victorian architecture will soon be awaiting Georgetown visitors, just make sure you wipe your feet at the door.

Historic Georgetown Inc. is hosting the House Tour in Victorian Georgetown on July 31 and Aug. 1.

The biennial event is a major fund-raiser for Historic Georgetown, and according to Executive Director Sharon Rossino, a good opportunity to share Georgetown.

“I think the most important part of the house tour is that we can share Georgetown with so many more people, ...” Rossino said. “People come to Georgetown and ...  you kind of feel like a visitor whereas when you come for the house tour, you are right there with all of us in the houses. It is definitely more intimate. It’s a big fund-raiser for us. We do make money, and it is very, very popular.”

This year, house-tour participants will get the chance to visit nine private homes, six museum properties, three historic churches and the Georgetown Masonic Temple.

Of the homes. Rossino said seven are new to the tour. Then there are the old standbys: the Hamill House Museum and The Bowman-White House.

Not all the homes are historic. One called The Elliot House was built in 2008 and designed with Victorian fashion in mind.

Another unusual example on the tour, according to Rossino, is a log cabin.

“We’ve got a log cabin on the tour. That’s kind of a funny story because the man who built the house, his wife said, ‘I want a house that’s my own. I don’t care if it is a log cabin,’” Rossino said. “And, of course, her husband heard, ‘I want a log cabin,’ so he built her a log cabin. This is in 1922 when really cabins were not being built at that time.”

Rossino said during the last home tour Georgetown attracted 500 participants, some from as far away as Kansas.

“You walk through (Georgetown), and you’re just really amazed at how many people are walking down the streets,” Rossino said. “... And the tour has been going on for probably 20 years — so people know about it.”

Rossino said people who have their houses on the tour are very open to the idea of hundreds of strangers walking through their house.

“People are actually really open to it. ... They see it as an honor if somebody asks you to put a house on the tour,” Rossino said. “I think that says, ‘Hey, we must have a beautiful home. We take care of it, and people enjoy looking at it, so why not open the inside and let them enjoy the inside as well.’”

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for senior citizens and students. Children 12 and under are free. For more information, call Historic Georgetown, Inc. at 303-569-2840.

Contact Ian Neligh at couranteditor@evergreenco.com, and check www.clearcreekcourant.com for updates and breaking news.