The Dyersburg Women's Club will present its biennial Christmas Pilgrimage of Homes from 1-4 p.m. Dec. 14.
The Sunday event will feature five Dyersburg homes -- Mark and Elaine McKee at 1631 Club House Drive; Jay and Rachele Morgan at 620 Sampson; Paul and Seela Newbill at 2229 Oakview; Darren Sells at 1820 Lake Road; and Jeffery Simpson and Joyce Simpson at 424 Sampson -- plus the club home at 915 Tibbs St., which will serve as hospitality house for the day where visitors can stop for refreshments.
Tickets are $10 each and will be available at any of the homes on the tour or from club members.
For more information, contact coordinator Evelyn Claiborne at 285-6206 or Flossie Jones at 285-6769.
The McKees
Mark and Elaine McKee had been in their new home at 1631 Club House Drive for about six months when Flossie Jones of the Dyersburg Women's Club asked if they would participate in the Christmas Pilgrimage of Homes.
At that point, Elaine McKee wasn't sure how she
Paul and Seela Newbill live at 2229 Oakview in the Oakridge subdivision off Pennell Lane. |
was going to decorate her home for her family, much less for the world to see.
Three Christmases later, McKee is ready. She and her family, including her mother Johnnie Countess, have been busy getting ideas and materials to decorate the home.
The McKees have lived in the home, which they built, for 2 1/2 years.
"My husband is a contractor. He built on Fairway from plans he drew and the first weekend we were there, we looked over plans and found this one," she said.
The house's old style is what caught her eye.
"We collect antiques and I never really had a home that they fit in to," McKee said.
With some encouragement from her husband, McKee said the entire hou
Jeffery Simpson and Joyce Simpson live at 424 Sampson. |
se will be open for the Dec. 14 tour.
"I plan to have a lot of fresh roses," she said. "That's Victorian."
The dining room is already set for Christmas dinner with her wedding china, her mother's 50-year-old flatware and roses flowing from the chandelier.
The three bedrooms are upstairs and will carry a theme unique to the rooms. The master is the McKees' tropical retreat. The decorations in the other bedrooms will correlate with the modern retro in their son's and the hot pinks and purples of their daughter's.
And, of course, Christmas trees will be everywhere.
"I enjoy doing this," McKee said. "I love to go on Christmas tours. It's fun to see what others think to do for the holidays. I think this will be fun and it'll be fun to see everybody."
The McKees' home is in the Christmas spirit year-round -- the color scheme consists of red, greens and yellows.
"Christmas is one of my favorite holidays," she said. "What better colors can you have? This is the best time -- family time."
The Morgans When Jay and Rachele Morgan first came to Dyersburg 2 1/2 years ago, Rachele fell in love with the house at 620 Sampson.
"I love everything about this house," she said. "I love the oldness. When I walked through the door, I felt like I was at home."
Now, Rachele is anxiously awaiting her chance to show what she's done to the home, which is now some 103 years old.
"My mother and I were at an estate sale when Mr. L.C. Heathcott asked if I'd be interested," she said. "It sounded like fun."
Randy Turnage of Hayti, Mo., has been helping Rachele with the decorating.
"It's basic Christmas -- the traditional reds, greens and golds," she said.
The decorating begins on the front of the house where wreaths and garland decked in red bows greet visitors.
Once inside, there is a better view of the 9-foot Christmas tree that sits in the angle of the stairwell. The tree is decorated with family ornaments and red, gold and green ribbon. At its foot, Santa is checking his list of boys and girls.
The banister is adorned in fresh berries, garland and ribbon that matches the tree. It leads to the bedrooms, including that of 4-month-old Lafe, where touches of Christmas are evident.
In the living room, Santa stands atop a mantel decorated with garland, berries and pinecones. The theme is carried down to the coffee table where a smaller Santa stands under holly-berry topiaries and among pinecones.
Waiting to be set for the Christmas dinner, the dining-room table is festooned with reindeer, pine needles and pinecones. Above it, red and white balls hang from the chandelier. A Christmas tree stands in the corner while wreaths ornament the shutters.
The kitchen carries a fruit theme.
"It's been fun getting it together," Rachele said.
The Newbills
When Paul and Seela Newbill first participated in the Christmas Pilgrimage of Homes in 1999, visitors commented on the home's coziness.
This year, visitors will see how the couple has brought that feeling into their new home.
The Newbills now live at 2229 Oakview in the Oakridge subdivision off Pennell Lane. They moved into the home, which they built, two years ago in December.
At the entry, visitors are greeted by the looks and smells of Christmas as magnolia leaves, poinsettias and gold ribbon adorn the front door. Once inside, they're welcomed by a Santa-themed rug in the entry.
From the entry, the split plan takes visitors into the living room where the 9-foot Scandinavian pine is already grounded with presents. From there is the kitchen that adjoins the master suite. The dining room, featuring a curio filled with Seela's Dickens village, is to the left of the entry. The bedrooms and playroom of the Newbills' daughters, 6-year-old Mary Catherine and 3-year-old Emma, are to the right of the entry.
"I decorate with sentimental things, ornaments I've gotten from different places and from different people over the years," Seela said.
While the living-room tree features ornaments from teachers, students, her parents and his parents, "my girls' trees are done with ornaments they've received from friends since they've been born," she said. "I have ornaments of Paul's that his mother gave me from when he was a little boy on this tree and the girls' trees."
The angel adorning the main tree was also given by Paul's mother, Lou Newbill, to Seela as a housewarming gift after they first married.
"I love taking out the Christmas decorations every year and remembering who they came from and when we got them," Seela said. "I write on the back of many of them so we'll remember."
The Sells
From Santas to snowmen, the Darren Sells home at 1820 Lake Road is in the Christmas spirit.
A life-sized Santa greets visitors as they walk into the foyer. A Christmas tree brightens the living room while Santa kicks back to read a book at the fireplace. The dining-room table is adorned with poinsettia-themed china. A snowman takes a dip in the tub of the home's original downstairs bathroom while upstairs, a life-sized snowman welcomes visitors to the master suite. The stairwell niches are homes to Santas past while the banister is adorned with red berries and evergreen. Under the staircase is the perfect niche for a Dickens village.
Sells moved into the now 6,000-square-foot home in March after a yearlong renovation added almost 2,000 square feet to the front.
Dr. C.L. and Frances Curry Denton originally built the antebellum-style house in the 1940s. The Dentons lived in the house for less than a year when he was called back into the service. At that point, Dr. Pierce Conyers purchased it. It was later purchased by the Weakley family and then by Pierce White. Sells is the fifth owner of the home.
Sells volunteered his home for the Christmas Pilgrimage of Homes after learning of an opening on the schedule.
"I heard that there was a cancellation on the list and since I was hosting a tour for the Exchange Club (of Dyer County), I didn't mind," he said. "It's for a good benefit for others."
The Simpsons
When the realtor first took Jeffrey Simpson and his mother Joyce to see the house at 424 Sampson, the thought of a sell was distant.
But Jeffrey saw a diamond in the rough.
"It had good bones," he said. "I liked the way the rooms were laid out and the way the house flowed. I liked the size and the (53) windows."
The Simpsons moved into the house four years ago and began the renovations. They were first asked to be part of the Christmas Pilgrimage of Homes two years ago.
"We weren't ready. I had to have everything finished," he said.
When the call came this year, the Simpsons were ready to say yes.
The outside of the home features wreaths accented with burgundy bows. The gazebo is the perfect place for a Christmas tree. The front door is adorned with a wreath that is centerpieced by a pair of paper mâché bells that date to the 1940s.
Inside, the sounds of Christmas played on the baby grand in the living room will greet visitors.
The living room features one of six Christmas trees in the house. This vintage one is covered from top to bottom with decorations in cranberry, pink and gold. The mantel shows off a fresh and silk floral design. Those fresh and silk floral designs will be found throughout the house.
To the right of the entry is the den. Its oriental theme is carried out in its gold Christmas tree that's accented with red and gold oriental silk lanterns, beaded fringe eggs, bamboo and coins. It's based with candlelit pagodas.
The Italian rosewood table in the dining room is set with Royal Dalton country-rose china and fruit.
The breakfast nook and kitchen are a Candyland with a gingerbread theme. In addition, the breakfast nook has a small tree in the corner featuring mercury-glass fruit and vegetable ornaments, vegetable people, kitchen utensils and a chef-hat top.
There will be touches of Christmas throughout the house, Jeffrey noted. Those touches are mainly in the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Joyce's bedroom features a nativity theme that is carried out in her dressing room.
"The tree of the nativity represents the night of Christ's birth with the star on top, angels throughout and a paper mâché nativity at the bottom," Jeffrey said. "The colors are copper and gold. The feathers at the top remind me of angels' wings. The bobbles look like what the wise men brought their gifts in."
The neutral-toned staircase features dried pineapple, dried hydrangea, dried artichokes, berries, gold bobbles and gold ribbon. At the stair landing, an ecclesiastical chest is topped with candles, highlighting a wall hanging of the Madonna and Child.
The guest bedroom features a Christmas village. Jeffrey's bedroom features a reproduction German feather tree, which was the first artificial tree, decorated with old ornaments.
The evening sitting room features a children's theme. The tree features German mercury-glass ornaments of religious scenes and storybook and nursery-rhyme characters. Under the tree is Jeffrey's 80-piece Nutcracker collection. A train circles it all.
Decorated in caravan style, the morning sitting room features a safari theme with its pheasant feathers, exotic print ribbon, animals and feathered balls.
The tour will exit, Jeffrey said, in the back of the house, allowing visitors to see the work in the courtyard that will be decorated for the holidays. He noted the driveway will be blocked off.
Dentist Dr. Jerry Cole built the house in the 1930s. His daughter Martha Cole lived in it until her death. Except for some updating of the kitchen and bathrooms, nothing else had been changed when the Simpsons bought it in 1999.
Their renovations included refinishing the floors, adding tile to the kitchen and breakfast nook and some other touches. The main alteration was to the stair area.
"We pretty much left things the way they were," including the original French doors, Joyce said.
The renovations "took a while but I'm pleased with how it turned out," Jeffrey said. "Good things come to those who wait."
Dyersburg Women's Club
The Dyersburg Women's Club is marking its 90th anniversary this year. The club became affiliated with the State Federation of Women's Clubs in 1913 and the General Federation of Women's Clubs in 1926.
The community-service organization was first located on Masonic Street. When the club outgrew that location, a new home was built on Lee Street about 37 years ago. A member's husband donated the lot and the husbands of members went with them to sign the bank note.
The club was located on Lee Street until 2000 when construction on the Lake Road expansion began. They purchased the home at 915 Tibbs St. in February 2000 and moved in that fall. The home was built in 1970 as a parsonage for the Phillips Street Church of Christ.
The Dyersburg Women's Club has held the tour for some 25 years. This year's coordinator is Evelyn Claiborne.
"Everyone is excited about it," Claiborne said. "There are several who have been asked (to open their homes) before and not able to do it at that time. Flossie keeps a list and we contact them."
The club's biggest fund-raiser, pilgrimage proceeds allow members to provide a nursing scholarship to Dyersburg State Community College; to help local non-profit organizations including Northwest Safeline, the Community Cancer Fund and Friends of the Library; to help maintain the club home; and provide prizes for the club-sponsored poetry contest that is open to first- throughout 12th-graders in the Dyersburg City Schools system.
