Area holiday home tour includes 1690s house moved from Connecticut

This year's Lutheran Family and Children's Services holiday home tour showcases seven homes, including the largest ever shown on the tour and one that was brought to the area piece by piece from Connecticut.

The tour will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Melody Anderson, regional development director for the Southeast office of Lutheran Family and Children's Services, said the largest house is over 16,000 square feet. It is owned by Seymour Chilton.

The home from Connecticut was built in the 1690s "and looks exactly how it would have back then. It's like a museum. Like 'Little House on the Prairie,'" Anderson said. The home, now on Fox Run Lane and owned by Paul and Nancy Holcomb, was moved to make way for a casino.

One of the homes is a single level with a finished basement. It is comfortable, open and nice for entertaining. The holiday decorations were all made by the homeowner, Pat Bockhorst.

"I am looking forward to doing it," Bockhorst said. "It is for a wonderful cause, and I'm glad to do it. They have helped a lot of families and children in our area."

One of the homes on tour this year is a Sears and Roebuck home that was ordered from the Sears catalog and shipped in pieces. It was built in 1911 and has been restored to its original condition, according to Jill Miller, who owns it with her husband.

Anderson said free refreshments will be new to the tour this year. The tour will include a stop at Belladona Salon, Spa and Boutique.

With the range of homes this year, Anderson is anticipating a high turnout. The tour has drawn between 500 to 800 people in the past.

Lutheran Family and Children's Services relies heavily on the financial income from three fundraisers, including the home tour. The Southeast office in Cape Girardeau offers an assisted custody exchange program, comprehensive pregnancy counseling for women and teens, foster care, adoption services, senior services, advocacy, parenting classes and other services.

Tickets for the Holiday Home Tour are $25 per person in advance and $30 at the door. Tickets are available at the Bank of Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville and Marble Hill; Belladona Salon, Spa, and Boutique; the Lutheran Family and Children's Services office; Patrick's Furniture; Southeast Hospital; Sunny Hill Garden Center; Ultimate Flooring Inc.; and online. Online tickets will cost an extra $2 to cover the price of mailing the tour catalog.