Visitors have the unique opportunity on this self-guided tour to go behind closed doors and see restored private homes, bed and breakfast inns and guesthouses. Tourgoers can meet the homeowners, managers or innkeepers, see unique furnishings and décor, and find inspiration for their own homes and hearths.  

Houses on tour:

Aurorean Cottage (c. 1867)                                                                           726 Corgie St.

Marc + Lauren Shenfield

No photography inside this property.

The Gothic style Aurorean Cottage, with its surrounding English style gardens, was built in 1867 for Philadelphia doctor Augustus Bournonville as a summer home.  The exterior, with its 60-foot wraparound porch remains as built.  More significantly, the interior retains all its original features, including floors, woodwork, plaster, doors, and windows with their beguiling wavy glass.  The original layout survives unchanged as well.  Meticulously restored and sensitively updated by the current owners, the Cottage boasts a formal parlor filled with Victorian wicker, an eclectically furnished sitting room, 19^th century inspired bedrooms and baths, plus a modern Victorian kitchen with cathedral ceiling, antique heart pine floor, soapstone counters, farmhouse sink and a contemporary antique-style range.  Original Victorian furnishings complete this one-of-a-kind space. End your tour through the “back room” addition, with its array of antique signs, and beach-related art and artifacts.

The Colonial House (c. 1730)                                                                         653 ½ Washington St.

The headquarters of the Greater Cape May Historical Society, the Colonial House Museum was originally a tavern and the family house of Revolutionary War Patriot Memucan Hughes. The front room has been recreated as a tavern with a colonial era cooking/eating room behind. A research/exhibit room at the rear was added in the 1930s. The house and gardens will be decorated for fall in colonial tradition with all natural and native items.

The Bedford Inn (c. 1883)                                                                              805 Stockton Ave.
The Bedford Inn was constructed in 1881 as a mother/daughter home (attached) for the Page family children's vacation home.  The matriarch of the family, Joseph, had a mansion around the corner that has since been torn down.  Now a shining example of the Italianate-style architecture, the exterior colors of the Bedford are of a true Victorian motif.  Owners since 2019, Paula Murray and her brother, Marc Jacoby, invite you to experience this well-preserved home now being run as a 10-room bed and breakfast.  The mural in the dining room is stunning and depicts many of the current sights in Cape May.  Painted in the scenes on the mural are the Murray and Jacoby family pets. Our inn welcomes you dressed in its fall regalia! 

The Lovely Lorelei (c. 1865)                                                                                       238 Perry St.

The Lovely Lorelei was built in Second–Empire style with Mansard roof in 1865 and it retains the original Dog Bone shaped Victorian garden detail. The current owners purchased this beauty in April of 2015 and have been lovingly working on it bit by bit to make it one of the best rental houses in historic Cape May. This house sleeps up to 17 people and has 6 bedrooms and 6 ½ bathrooms. It has a modern kitchen, large dining room, living room, den, and a huge wrap around porch, perfect for people watching. You can walk most anywhere in Cape May from this fabulously located home which is available as a vacation rental in every season!   

The Queen Victoria (c. 1867)                                                                                     102 Ocean St.
The Queen Victoria was built as a private residence by Douglas Gregory, a pilot on the Delaware River and Bay. Restored for its centennial, it has been lovingly maintained by just three owners since that time. The Queen Victoria’s small hotel architecture, like a true Victorian, is a blend of several styles, including Italianate Villa (the twin turret windows), Edwardian (the front porch), and a French inspired mansard roof, very popular in Cape May during the period.