Annual Christmas Tour of Victorian Homes on tap
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 12:00am
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BYee^Marge Warder
Special to The Express
REDee^OAK – Tickets are on sale for Touchstone art council’s 16th annual Christmas Tour of Victorian Homes.
The tour is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7.
In addition to touring five decorated homes, tickets will cover admission to the restored Burlington Northern Depot, where vintage holiday clothing will be exhibited.
Participants can also join in a Victorian Tea from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Montgomery County History Center, 2700 N.ee^Fourth St.
The tea includes an opportunity to view this year’s Festival of Trees entries.
Advance tickets cost $9 at the History Center or can be purchased by calling Peggy Kramer at 712-623-4933. Tickets purchased the day of the tour cost $10.
Up to 600 have attended Touch-stone’s Christmas tour in previous years.
Proceeds fund scholarships for high school seniors pursuing print, film, voice or other arts majors in college.
Since 2005, nine area students have received scholarships.
Five of Red Oak’s most beautiful homes will have ornaments in place before their doors open to the public at 1 p.m.Sunday.
Each home selected for this year’s tour has a distinct architectural style, with some dating back to the late 1800’s.
Four of the decorated homes are “on the hill” within walking distance of each other.
The Vial home is situated closer to the Depot.
Homes on the tour include:
• The French home, 909 E. Coolbaugh, is a painstakingly preserved Russian Victorian-style house built in the 1870’s.
It has period details intact including the outside Turkish turret to its inside tiled fireplaces, leather embossed panels beneath windows and inlaid parquet floors.
The kitchen, however, is state-of-the-art with quartz countertops.
This home is one of Red Oak’s oldest and owners Dale and Sue Ann French say they are blessed to have been able to rescue and transform this piece of Red Oak history.
• At 1001 E. Coolbaugh is the brick Tudor built in 1926 by J.E. and Jeanette Gochenour, owners of the J.E. Gochenur & Son Coal Co. in Red Oak.
This classic period charm includes its original woodwork, door hardware, crown molding, oak floors, unique staircase and spacious rooms.
Since purchasing the home in 2005, Cindy Arett has kept busy with remodeling projects and especially enjoyed transforming a screened porch into an all-season room off the kitchen.
Arett’s mother’s art collection is part of the home’s dcor.
• Roger and Jane Brown’s home at 404 N. 8th St. was originally built for Fay Edgerton Loomis by famed architect George Miller West in 1876.
Loomis began the Loomis Abstract Co. in 1874, which still operates today.
Hanging above the cozy fireplace is a painting that has been passed down from owner to owner.
Of special interest is the beautiful staircase and the Fostoria china collection in Mrs. Brown’s mother’s curio cabinet.
• 511 Broad Street — a 1941 Cape Cod home owned by the Webbs — has recently been restored by Jean Webb, an interior designer.
Many original features are still intact including arched French doors, a fireplace, door hardware, and pendant lighting.
The kitchen has been renovated with tile floors, appliances and granite counter tops.
A before-and-after book will provide full appreciation of the renovation.
• The ranch style home, 1777 215th St., on the southern edge of Red Oak, provides Roger and Beth Vial’s family both a country- and city-life setting.
The Vials think the heart of the home is their oak kitchen with its walk out deck overlooking their children’s favorite winter past time: a sledding hill and on site skating rink.
This home on a quiet cul de sac surrounded by woods with beautiful vistas has been the Vial’s since 2001.
Besides the Victorian Home Tour, Touchstone sponsors in-home concerts and other events for the community.