Holiday Tea & Tours at Cairnwood Estate

The Holiday Tea & Tour Package includes a traditional holiday tea, docent-supported self-guided tours of the decorated estate, and access to the seasonal vintage textile exhibition Dressing With Flair: Staff Favorites From the Pitcairn Collection on the second and third floors.

The menu includes premium teas by Harney & Sons, traditional tea sandwiches, soup du jour and seasonal salad, family-style sweets, holiday cookies, and scones with clotted cream and jams provided by Karen Spire Catering & Events.

The cost is $70 per person. Reservations are by table and are required; if you would like to join a group, call 215-947-2004.

Dates are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and select Sundays from 1-4 pm, throughout December.

Additional tours (without tea service) are available on select dates in December at 11 am. Tours begin in the Garden House with an orientation video and include three floors decorated for the season by professional florists. There is a two-story Christmas tree located in the same spot it once stood at the turn of the century. Tour participants discover the private side of the Pitcairn family and its integral role in founding the Bryn Athyn community while exploring this grand Beaux Arts country house and the vintage textile exhibition Dressing With Flair: Staff Favorites From the Pitcairn Collection.

The cost is $25 per adult, $20 per senior/student, and $15 for Cairnwood Estate members.

The tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations are required.

Or, take a self-guided tour from 2-4 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and select Sundays in December. Cost is $10 per person.

Sign up your kids for the Children’s Critter Quest on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and select Sundays in December from 2-4 pm.

Families will make their way through the glittering grand rooms of the estate while on a quest to find the hiding (and cute) little critters.

Doors open at 2 pm and close at 4 pm. You can complete at your own pace but it takes about 45 minutes.

There is also a special Christmas Cookie Stroll on December 19 from 5-7:30 pm. Take a magical evening stroll through the estate to collect a personal selection of traditional cookies by the candlelight glow of thousands of Christmas lights inside and out.

This family-friendly event is the last self-guided tour opportunity to see Cairnwood’s halls decked with eight sparkling Christmas trees and fantasy fireplace mantels throughout the estate.

Admission includes holiday cookies and a cup of hot chocolate per person. There will be a cash bar.

The cost is $15 per adult/child or $10 for Cairnwood members.