HOMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS: TOUR BENEFITS LOCAL FAMILY SERVICES

A collection of six brand new homes, featuring a variety of different architectural and decorating styles, and a church are featured on this year's Holiday House Tour.

The tour, Nov. 28 from 1-6 p.m., benefits Lutheran Family and Children's Services.

Nancy Stiegemeyer of Lutheran Family and Children's Services explained that each house reflects different decorating tastes for the 1990s. Plus all the houses will be decorated for the holidays.

This is the agency's sixth annual house tour.

"It is a major fundraiser for the agency," Stiegemeyer said.

"We have in the past several years tried to use old homes in Cape Girardeau, and that was a lot of fun," she said. "This year the committee went out and got brand new houses -- houses people just moved into a couple weeks ago."

Houses on the tour include:

Harry and Fran Rediger, 1550 Greenbrier Drive.

Richard and Patty Ralph, 1601 Greenbrier Drive.

Stan and Jane Grimm, 2208 Crown Point.

St. Mark Lutheran Church, 1900 Cape LaCroix Road.

David and Jerrie Gerlach, 2004 Cape LaCroix Road.

Rickey and Margaret Lents, 3030 Cape LaCroix Road.

Ricky and Tracy Blattner, 2137 Woodhollow Court.

Included in the tour is a dessert buffet at the Gerlach home.

Thirty different desserts will be provided by volunteers for guests to sample. "These are favorite family recipes. Many are Christmas recipes, others are year `round favorites," said Stiegemeyer.

Recipes for some of the refreshments are featured in the Southeast Missourian today.

Stiegemeyer said 300 to 400 people are expected to take part in the tour.

Docents will be located in nearly every room to explain details of the homes. Some of the hosts also will be present.

"This is the easiest tour we've put together geographically," Stiegemeyer said.

Maps are provided with the tickets. Tickets cost $10 if purchased in advance. Tickets are also available the day of the tour for $12.

Tickets are available at the Lutheran Family and Children's Services, 2911 Breckenridge; Wanda's Coiffures, 1405 Thomas Drive; Williams Hearing Center, 320 Broadway; The Way Bookstore, 110 S. High in Jackson; Schnucks Service Center.

"We hope no one will wear spiked heels in any of the homes," Stiegemeyer said. "It only takes one pair of spiked heels to ruin a floor."

In some houses, guests will be asked to wear shoe covers.

The Gerlach house is the one home on the tour that is based on an old house -- Jerrie Gerlach's grandparents' farmhouse.

"This is my grandparent's home. When they got married they built this house," said Jerrie Gerlach. "We've redone it and added on."

They have lived in the home for two years. From the front, the house still looks like the traditional farm house.

"But once you get in you realize it's not the same old house," Gerlach said. "We've redone the wood floor and completely redone the kitchen and we added several bathrooms."

In the back of the house, the Gerlach's added a vaulted great room.

Gerlach has a three-week-old son. "I think one of the neatest things was getting to bring a baby to the home where my grandparents and mother lived," she said.

"My husband is a developer and we've moved 13 times," Gerlach said. "I'm never moving again."

The dessert buffet will be held in the dining room at the Gerlach's home.

While the Grimms are in a new home this holiday season, many family traditions adorn the house. For example, the Grimms have an extensive collection of antique Christmas trees and ornaments and other family antiques decorating the home. Jane Grimm has a collection of cookie cutters, both old and new, that hang on the kitchen wall.

At the Ralph house, Patty Ralph has spent years collecting a variety of furniture, some from yard sales and second-hand stores.

Much of the Rediger house features home decor from JCPenney's. Harry Rediger is manager of the local JCPenney Store.

"It's a brand new house that is just beautiful," Stiegemeyer said. "Since many of the things are from Penney's, they are within reach for most of us in terms of costs."

The Blattner house utilizes many decorating techniques seen in magazines. For example, the house includes a number of pillars used for decorating purposes.

When you enter the house you can see through the main level of the home to a fireplace. "It's a most welcoming sort of thing."

St. Mark Lutheran Church will show off a new sanctuary and an interesting crucifix.

The Lents house is a faithful reproduction of a southern colonial mansion, complete with pillars and a veranda.

The front yard and middle of the circular driveway are planted with hundreds of azaleas and rhodedruns, dogwood trees and redbud trees.

The entryway has a curving stairway leading to the second floor. The upstairs hall is open on one stairs, overlooking the family room.

The kitchen has a tin ceiling. The house also has a back stairway, also unusual for a new house.