Hart Cottage, Hobnob will hold holiday event

The Hart Cottage Guild and Hobnob Gourmet are teaming up for a holiday event on Nov. 19 at Hobnob Gourmet, 113 W. Carolina Ave. Suzanne Galloway and Vicki Hudson of Hobnob Gourmet will host an evening of fun with complimentary samples from their holiday food collection, and the Hart Cottage Guild will serve delicious samples of recipes from the Hart Cottage cookbook "Candlelight and Camellias.” The event is part of the Hartsville Downtown Development Association (HDDA) after hours Holiday Open House. Downtown stores will be open until 9 p.m.

At the event, the Hart Cottage Guild will be offering its cookbooks for sale. Since the cookbooks were first offered in 2007, more than 500 copies have been sold. The group is on its second printing, and the cookbooks are available at Hobnob Gourmet, Hartsville Museum, McLeod Farms and Big’s Meats & More and from any guild member.

“A lot of the recipes from in the cookbook come from recipes we fixed for luncheons,” said Paula Bowen, a member of the Hart Cottage Guild. “That is how this cookbook started.”

“We had many requests for recipes which were prepared by guild members for our annual luncheons,” Guild President Patty Holley said. “As members collected recipes, we decided to do a cookbook as a fundraiser.”

There are 297 recipes included in the cookbook, and the book features eight menus which include Old Hartsville Entertains, Brunch at the Cottage, Rite of Spring Luncheon, Harvest Time Gathering, Party on the Porch, Family Fireside Supper, Candlelight Dinner at the Cottage and Huntboard Buffet. The book also features a “cooking lite” category.

Bowen said the cookbooks make excellent gifts. She gives them as hostess gifts and to new folks who move to town. She said most of the time she will prepare one of the recipes to take along with the gift of the cookbook.

Proceeds from the cookbooks are used for the preservation of the building. The Hart Cottage is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the East Home Avenue Historical District.

“This year we installed a handicapped ramp,” said Holley.

She said that the John L Hart Cottage Guild pays for the upkeep of the house by donations and various fund raising activities like the one on Nov. 19. The Guild also acts as an advocate in maintaining a sincere interest in the historical preservation of the cottage and its ideals of education, service and commitment. Guild members serve as historians, docents, cooks and housekeepers. The cottage is open to the public upon request. Tours for schools and historical groups are held frequently.

Recipes for the November event include Olive Pecan Spread, which Paula Bowen will be preparing. Bowen said the recipe is one that was submitted for the cookbook from Bobbie Bradshaw.

Pam Newsome is known as the biscuit maker of the group, and her famous recipe for tiny biscuits and ham is included in the book.

“I put my signature on each one,” Newsome said. She signs each one with a gentle pat of two fingers.

Newsome said she made biscuits for Wednesday night suppers at West Hartsville Baptist Church for many years.

The guild meets monthly, and its officers are Patty Holley, president; Judy Walker, vice president; Pam Newsome, secretary and Linda Hi, treasurer.

Built in 1846 and situated in front of the First Baptist Church, the Hart Cottage is the oldest house in downtown Hartsville. First Baptist acquired the house in 1974, and in 1981, the church negotiated with the Hartsville Heritage Foundation the gift of the cottage and purchase of a portion of church property to the foundation where the Cottage was relocated. Its new home is about 50 yards directly in front of where the original foundation stood.

The Hartsville Heritage Foundation has set about to authentically restore the house, which is an example of federal architecture as influenced by the vernacular cottage style prevalent in the South during the antebellum days. The house is built of hewn timber and weatherboard siding and the second floor windows are hand blown glass. The interior retains the split-lath walls and the ceilings retain their original whitewash. In the house are various items belonging to the Hart family. Many families prominent to the history of Hartsville began married life in the "Honeymoon Cottage" as it came to be called, said Judy Walker.

In 1995, Dr. Mac Chapman, son of member Retha Chapman, a member of the Hart Cottage Guild, commissioned the late Ray Govas to sketch a print of several historical buildings in the downtown Hartsville area including the Hart Cottage. The proceeds from the sale of this print that includes the cottage benefits the Hartsville Heritage Foundation to fund the John Hart Cottage. The prints are available at Burry Bookstore and the Hartsville Museum. There are about 50 prints still available.