Mill Town Tea June 2026

June 18th 2026

MUSEUM OF HOWARD COUNTY HISTORY, ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND

Show House Stories Bring in a Sellout Crowd!

When the question was asked how many have never been to a show house, only two of the nearly fifty people gingerly raised their hands! We don’t judge, but it’s pretty obvious to us “old hands”, that showhouses are just as popular as they were when we did the first one in 1984. Our discussion didn’t begin there; we went back to discuss show houses throughout the United States with the first one being done in 1961 in Indianapolis by the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild to support Eskenazi Health. They are still going strong with their 65 th Show house this year! HEC, Inc. seems like a mere baby as we’re about to launch our 35 th Show house: Valhalla. (SEE BELOW) We had done Valhalla as a Show house in 2003 with co-Chairs Lorna Ozgun and Lissa Bounds (formerly Stolte). And guess what? Our co-presenter along with yours truly was Lissa Bounds of Ellicott Interiors, LLC. Not only is Lissa an accomplished designer in her own right, but just happens to be the daughter of HEC, Inc. founder and originator of our decorator show houses, none other than Enalee and Roland Bounds.

The stories Lissa told of her involvement from the earliest days were heartwarming and told from the perspective of a seasoned veteran of the hard, hard work and expense that designers put forth to bring their rooms to life. Lissa is pictured below, enjoying our scrumptious Tea offerings by Emma’s Teaspot.

If you’d like to enjoy some eye candy visit Lissa’s site and indulge: https://www.ellicottinteriordesign.com

You’ll see from the pictures all the show houses we have done in the past and board member, Karen Griffith also prepared a map of their locations which we’ll have on display for your inspection when you visit Valhalla in the Fall. I see we have two more to add!!

A SURPRISE GUEST BRINGS EVEN MORE MEMORIES

An even greater surprise to all of us was the attendance of Pat Zimmerman, a designer at our first showhouse, Temora in 1984. Pat fondly recounted doing the Master Bedroom as that was the furniture she had available at her shop. The time frame to accomplish Temora was as abbreviated as any showhouse we had ever done, including the compressed time frame of our last house, Oakdale, but it was an overwhelming success due to the cooperation of Main Street Ellicott City vendors who came to the rescue when the designer for the kitchen walked off the scene. Pat still showed grace, however, in describing the comrade in arms feeling that comes from doing a show house. We’re so glad to have had you then and now to add so much to the story, Pat! Pat’s the lovely lady in black with the standout necklace, by the way.

Of course there are so many stories from the past and new stories will be made as we prepare for our show house, Valhalla.