2025 Holiday Social & Tour

Happy Holidays from the Quapaw Quarter Association!

Thank you for all of your support through 2025! We finished out the event season with our 2025 Holiday Social & Tour, presented by Engel & Volkers! Our biennual event featured three homes in the Governor’s Mansion Historic District, champagne galore, and a dinner you won’t soon be forgetting.

Please celebrate with us as we close out the year. We are bursting with ideas for new educational programming in 2026-so keep an eye out for our upcoming public lectures, community volunteer days, and much more!

Thanks to the expert planning of Holiday Chair, Laura Sergeant, guests toured three historic homes, built between 1881 and 1904. At each tour home guests were greeted by knowledgeable docents, eager to show guests through each historic home. Cocktails were complimentary from Rocktown Distillery, and appetizers were from Rex's Restaurant & Bar. A non-alcoholic punch was provided by Marcella Dalla Rosa. 

Dinner was hosted at the c. 1877 Capital Hotel. The dinner venue was the oldest building "on tour" for the night. Often referred to as Little Rock’s “Front Porch,” the Capital Hotel has stood as a local landmark since the height of the Gilded Age. Constructed in the 1870s by a wealthy New York railroad tycoon, William P. Denckla, who saw great business opportunities throughout Little Rock in the years immediately following the American Civil War. The hotel contained some of the finest amenities of its day, including gas lighting, indoor plumbing, and a magnetic annunciator*. Among the property’s most flamboyant owners was Henry Franklin Auten, who significantly transformed the hotel’s appearance with a $250,000 renovation in 1908. While the cast-iron façade remained intact, the entire first floor lobby was reconstructed into its present form with marble pillars and gold accents. An economic stagnation in the mid-20th century pushed the hotel into disrepair. The late 1970s brought Ed Cromwell and a group of investors to restore the Capital Hotel back to its former glory. Taking some three years to complete, the hotel re-opened its doors on Christmas Day of 1983.  

Upon arriving at the Capital Hotel for dinner, guests were greeted by champagne and were invited to peruse the mezzanine and lobby of the hotel. Entering the Capital Hotel Ballroom, guests made their way through a winter forest of twinkling lights and golden ribbon, trailing down from gold framed centerpieces. Decor and table settings provided by Kate Schranz. Three courses for the night included a harvest salad, full of seasonal vegetables and local flavors. To warm guests from the chilly winter night, a roasted red pepper and tomato soup was served as the second course. The third course entree was a selection from a pan roasted salmon, braised short rib, or vegetarian potato gnocchi. Dessert alternated from an eggnog mousse cake to sticky toffee pudding. Guests bid against each other for art pieces by local artists such as Meikel Church and Mary Hatch.  

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and ensured it was a successful fundraising event for our 2026 community outreach plans.  

*Annunciator: a bell, light, or other device that provides information on the state or condition of something by indicating which of several electrical circuits has been activated. Historically used to communicate a request to service staff in a large house or business. Early annunciators were simple pulls in each room which connected to cables that would then ring to a large bell station in the kitchen. For a deeper dive on this topic, visit here.