GLENN HOUSE DECKED OUT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Volunteers were decking the halls of the Glenn House in Cape Girardeau this week in preparation for the arrival of Santa -- and others.

Fran Schulman and Dr. Danna Cotner spent most of Sunday evening stringing thousands of feet of lights, hanging hundreds of ornaments on the Glenn House's five decorative trees and moving furniture inside the nearly 120-year-old home.

"We're trying to make the parlor look more feminine and the study is more manly, and dining room is more dining-ish," Schulman said.

The Christmas tours will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday starting this weekend and will continue Dec. 6-8, 13-15 and 21-22.

They've also rearranged the furniture to best enhance the decorations and trees.

Five rooms will boast a Christmas tree that will reflect the theme of the room. The River Room, on the second floor, will have a tree adorned with boats, fishes, nets and canoes. The Children's Room will have a children's tree. The dining room will have a silver tree. The parlor will have a Lace Guild tree.

The library will claim the most lavish tree. At its base will be a decoration in the German tradition. The miniature scene will include a working railroad train.

Plus, since this was once the home of the young David A. and Lulu Glenn, who spent about 37 holiday seasons in the house until they moved in 1915, Schulman and Cotner have taken extra care in trying to make the house look like a home.

"We've laid out some night clothes and robes on the bed upstairs," Schulman said.

The Glenn House was built between 1878 and 1883 by renowned architect Edwin Branch Deane. Deane built the home as a wedding present to his daughter, Lulu.

The original design was much simpler than the Glenn House of today. The wrap-around porch and tower were added as the Glenns' fortune increased and the style of houses changed over the years.

After changing hands a few times in the 20th century, in 1969 the Glenn House was donated by the Erlbacher family to the Historical Society of Greater Cape Girardeau.

The trees and lights will not be the only things added to the house for the Christmas tours. Wreaths will be hung, an antique doll collection on loan from the Genevieve Lueders estate, will be set up in the Tower, and a collection of wooden and metal kitchen utensils will be arranged in the kitchen.

Best of all, many of these items will have price tags affixed.

"This is the first time we'll be selling the ornaments right off the trees," Cotner said.

Schulman said the prices will range from $1 to $25 with a percentage of the proceeds going to the Glenn House restoration project.

Organizers are hoping to bring in about $2,000 from the admission charge and what they can collect from selling the ornaments. Schulman said they have more than 500 ornaments on hand from River Ridge's Ye Old House south of Scott City, and if those go she can get more right away.

"We're not going to run out of ornaments," she said.

The money collected from the tour and ornament sales will be used specifically to restore the upper front balcony of the house.

While the decorators want the house to look festive, they're aware that they have to tone down the decorations somewhat.

"We're not going to make it look too terribly modern," Cotner said.

"We're trying to keep it in that Victorian style," Schulman said. "But we want it to look Christmasy too."