Have you ever wanted to see how other homes in your area decorate inside for the holidays? Well, thanks to the Marion City Library, you can have that chance. They are hosting the Christmas Home Tours from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5th 1-5 p.m. Tickets are just $5.00 each and can be purchased in advance or on the day of at the library.
After the tour of the homes, there are refreshments available at the library.
There are four different homes to check out on the tour.
The first home belongs to Jesse and Becky Howard who own a former farmhouse that was built in 1930 and later moved out to Marion County Lake.
It was one of the first fishermen’s cabins at the lake and it has more than doubled in size through several expansions over the years. The living room, kitchen, bedroom and office have been recently updated.
The Christmas decor is a blend of farmhouse and classic.
Christian and Stacey Pedersen’s home was built in the early 1950’s. It was originally the home base for a flower shop/greenhouse. They bought it in December 2017 and immediately started the remodel which was completed in February 2018. They had been intrigued with this little house for years prior to it being place on the market. Christian (with a little help from fellow carpenters) completely transformed it and brought their dream of a precious forever home to life.
Mike and Amy Smith’s home was built in 1906 and it sits on over two acres with a pool in the back.
“We moved here from New Mexico March of 2021. We have four children ages 10,8,4, and 1. It features beautiful original woodwork consisting of hickory and oak floors, and original mahogany pockets door. The home has 4 bedrooms and a finished attic that we converted into a playroom for the children. When you walk into the home you walk into the foyer which has the snowflake/nativity tree,” said the Smiths.
The family room has the “family tree” which has all of the homemade and passed down ornaments. It has a hand carved star from Germany settled on top. The dining room consists of the Santa Tree. Everything Santa and red and white.
All throughout the home you will see collections of Santa’s and nativities as that is something we have collected and have gotten as gifts through the years. Upstairs the children each have a tiny tree that they decorate with their own ornaments and our room that holds antique colored ornaments.
Matt & Jenna Meyerhoff have lived in their house since 2013. It was built in l952 and added onto at least 4 times.
“In 2020 we undertook a major renovating the first floor and replacing/expanding the second floor. It has provided us additional room for our growing family, allowed us to have entertaining space separate from our family room and increased the usability of our outdoor areas,” said Matt Meyerhoff.
Jenna’s family has long tradition, started by her father, of cutting a fresh Christmas tree each year. They have continued this tradition for their family with a real tree in the dining area. With the addition of a family room, they have also started putting up an artificial tree for the kids to decorate with their own ornaments and ornaments from their childhoods.
In addition to the main trees, Jenna has a collection of small decorative Christmas trees. She gets a new tree each fall and is slowly growing her Christmas tree forest. While Jenna handles the décor for the inside, Matt decorates the outside. Each year he look for new ways to light up the exterior of the house, but a star at the top of the pine tree in the front yard is one decorations that has become a tradition since it was first put up in 2017. It was, and continues to be, very popular often prompting the questions of “how did he get that star up there?”
For questions about the tour, please call the library at 620-382-2442.
