Delicate formal settings were in place, dainty antique teacups at the ready. It could be the daily London tradition but instead the Afternoon Cream Tea was shared by guests at a sold-out holiday event Dec. 13 in the Carriage House at McAllister House, the stately oldest house in Colorado Springs.

It was an unhurried time ideal for good conversations and learning inside stories about the city’s earliest days. The afternoon began with the first cups of tea, scones with jam and cream, tiny sandwiches, dessert and tea poured from a silver teapot.

Then it was time to walk to the front of the adjoining brick, Victorian architecture house, now a museum at 423 N. Cascade Ave, with original Quaker furniture and marble fireplaces and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Leading the tour was museum executive director Eric Metzger, who delighted guests with the years of history.

The first people to arrive in Fountain Colony, which became Colorado Springs in 1872, lived in thrown-together temporary shelters. When Maj. Henry McAllister came to the West from Philadelphia to work with his friend and city founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer developing the new area, he and his wife had house plans drawn up by a Philadelphia architect, George Summers, who also designed Palmer’s Glen Eyrie home and Grace Episcopal Church.

Because this wide open barren land often had rugged weather, the McAllisters chose to add a brick layer to their home built in 1873. The bricks came from Pennsylvania by train. The McAllisters raised their family in the house as the city grew up around them.

The major lived in the house until he died in 1921 and for years it was rented to a lady who had a “wedding gifts” shop. She died in 1958 and the house was sold.

The historic preservation National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Colorado, with support from El Pomar Foundation and Shepard’s Citations, purchased the home in 1961.

The Carriage House became a tea house and gift shop with local history literature, tea house teas and jams, and collectibles.

Volunteer work including regular tours is by The Friends of McAllister House Museum and staff. For the community there are holiday Afternoon Teas, a Mothers Day Tea, a summer ice cream social on the lawn, private events and plans for the 2026 65th anniversary of the museum coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the country and 150th anniversary of the city.

Amy Miller, Visitor Services Manager, McAllister House Museum at the Carriage House Afternoon Cream Tea. Photo Linda Navarro, The Gazette

Ruth Tepley-Quinlan, left, and daughter Ronna Bauman, McAllister House Afternoon Cream Tea. Photo Linda Navarro, The Gazette

Volunteer Talisman Ford serves scones at the McAllister House Afternoon Cream Tea. Photo Linda Navarro

Lisa Harr, left, and Maria Lafayette, McAllister House Afternoon Cream Tea. Photo Linda Navarro

MK Reckis, volunteer, Friends of McAllister House Museum, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Colorado, Afternoon Cream Tea. Photo Linda Navarro, The Gazette