Travelers visiting Jaffrey Center Village in New Hampshire Saturday will be treated to a unique tour when seven private homes in the historic district will be open to the public.
The Jaffrey Center Village Improvement Society is hosting the one-day house and garden tours as part of its centennial celebration. The homes, known for their Vernacular and Federalist architecture, were built from 1790 to 1830, except for a shingle-style summer cottage constructed in 1905. The tour will also highlight five other historic buildings, usually open to the public in summer . Visitors can walk through the center's one-room school house, 1857 fire station, the former Melville Academy , the First Church in Jaffrey , and one of the center's oldest buildings, the Meetinghouse, built in 1775 .
Residents say every walk or drive down a village street offers a trip back in time. ``Very little has changed. You drive up Thorndike Pond Road and . . .it's very much like being transported back to 1820, 1830," said Mary Jo Marvin , a member of the tour committee.
Saturday will also feature a picnic lunch -- with vendors selling items from antiques to jellies -- art exhibits, and a raffle. The money raised will go toward the maintenance of historic properties in Jaffrey Center.
For ticket information, call 603-532-7973. Tours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine.
Contact Michael Naughton at mnaughton@globe.com. 
