It highlights houses that reflect a time when the university and town were experiencing rapid and unprecedented growth in the 1920s and 1930s. But more than just a showcase for beautiful and stylish homes, this year's tour is a stroll through Chapel Hill's secret and hidden past.

Researching homes for the tour, the Preservation Society went beyond the deed vault and went so far as to contact the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. to get advice on some curious parts of one house on the tour: the Hodges-Taylor-Mill House.

Dina Mills, current owner of the home at No. 3 The Glen, speculated that the strange lead sheeting in the walls of one room and discarded communications equipment found in the basement could be evidence of a communications center for one-time resident Luther Hodges.

Hodges purchased the home as his term as North Carolina governor was ending. After moving into the home he became President John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Commerce. The Mills thought the strange sheeting could have been installed to create a bug-proof room for Hodges' communications with Washington during the turbulent 1960's.

Lending credence to the notion that this home off Franklin Street has a secret past is the fact that Hodges bought the home from Tar Heel spy master George Watts Hill. During World War II, Hill became THE spy gadget guy for the Office Secret Service. Recently, the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh had a display of his inventions used by spies infiltrating Nazi Germany.

Could Hill have updated the home for important friend with a little bit of technical know-how from his days in Europe? Make your up your own mind as you tour the Hodges-Taylor-Mill House.

Another stop on the tour that holds secrets of a shadowy past, is the headquarters of a UNC secret society whose name is plucked from ancient Greek mythology.

The Order of the Gorgon's Head Lodge first began in 1897, and has survived as one of two secret senior societies at the University. Outstanding members of the Junior class are secretly elected unbeknownst to them, by a unanimous secret ballot and then asked to join. Members of the Gorgon's Head Lodge include several influential editors, politicians, and other noteworthy civic leaders who credit their organization's long life to their central meeting space. One of the founders of the organization was Edward Kidder Graham.

The Preservation Society's hopes the inclusion of the Lodge on the tour will help draw attention to their efforts to find a buyer for his home located at 115 Battle Lane.

Construction on "The Lodge," as it's commonly called by members, began in the 1920s when Franklin Street was a muddy road. The establishment of this lodge at 711 East Franklin Street gave the organization a home and allowed them to outlast other clubs such as the Germans Club, the Shieks, 13, and the Minotaurs. Only the Order of the Gimghouls, who also have a meeting location, has survived the past century.

Both of these homes are open and available to tour as part of this year's tour on Dec. 13 and 14. Tickets for the tour are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the tour at the Horace Williams House and other locations in Chapel Hill and Durham. For more information about the tour call the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill at 942-7818 or visit us at www.chapelhillpreservation.com.

Ernest Dollar is the executive director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill.