INSIDE, OUTSIDE, ALL AROUND THE HOUSE; WEEKEND TOUR FEATURES HOUSES, GARDENS, DECKS, POOLS AND PATIOS

At right: The home of Lyle and Robin Davis at 1223 Rockwood Dr. Left: The wooded garden at 4 Dumaine, the home of Dr. and Mrs. Michael Brown. The Browns' backyard also includes a pool, patio, and lots of flowers.

The annual tour of Cape Girardeau homes sponsored by Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Southeast Missouri will have a different twist this year.

Instead of featuring just the interiors of some of the city's finest homes, the tour will include patios, landscaped backyards, decks, and even the gazebos of some of Cape Girardeau's most elegant and historic homes.

The tour, which is the major fund raiser for Lutheran Family and Children's Services, begins Saturday night with a desert buffet. It continues Sunday with tours of seven homes.

Nancy Stiegemeyer, with LFCS, said the tour focuses not just on interiors because people don't live their lives just inside their homes.

"Life revolves around the backyard patios and gardens," she said. "And some of these backyards are absolutely breathtaking."

The tour begins with the desert buffet from 6-8 p.m. Saturday at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Kinder. The Kinder's home is open Saturday night only, and tickets are limited.

Sunday's tour begins at 1 p.m. and can begin at any of the seven featured homes.

Tickets are $7 for Sunday's tour, and $12 for Saturday night and Sunday. They are available at the LFCS office, 833 Broadway (to reserve call 334-5866); Craftsman Office Supply; Madder Rose, LTD; Toni's Flower House; Wanda's Coiffures; and Williams Hearing Center in Cape Girardeau and Lohman's Shoes in Jackson.

4 Dumaine

The home of Dr. Michael and Diane Brown, the main attraction at this house is its magnificent backyard.

It begins off the side driveway with a pool and patio, where a bridge and boardwalks lead the way around this huge, shaded lot.

The Brown's bought the garden lot in 1986 and spent four years clearing the brush. Last year they planted 7,000 bedding plants. The garden contains 500 azaleas, 400 hostas and lots of lilies, wild flowers and shade-loving plants.

The original developer of the stone terraces in the back is thought to have been Dr. Rusby Seabaugh, who reportedly built the terraces in the 1930s or 1940s.

The main house was built in 1975 by Jim and Della Dee Besher. The Browns bought the house in 1984.

Stone Ridge

Noretta Blattner remembers that the ridge where she and her husband David built their house was a favorite place of her father's and her family's while she was growing up.

That memory, and the spectacular natural setting, led the Blattners to start building their house here in 1987.

It was completed this year, with David Blattner doing much of the work. He made the stained glass windows, some of the furniture, all the cabinets and the mantles over the four fireplaces.

The four-level house, situated west of Cape Girardeau, features a balcony in the upstairs study overlooking the great room. There is a solarium, screened porch and two decks, one of which overlooks the woods. The house is furnished throughout with antiques.

701 Bellevue

Built in 1929 during the Great Depression, this home is made of Ste. Genevieve limestone and was first owned by Judge and Mrs. Oscar Knehans.

The Knehans family retained the home until 1967 when Don and Carolyn Thomasson bought it.

The Thomassons have since added a downstairs powder room, enlarged the formal dining room, renovated the kitchen, cut the living room fireplace through to the sun room and converted the porte cochere into a breakfast room.

In 1990, the Thomassons added a multi-level deck at the rear of the house. The deck won the Designer's Award from the St. Louis Homebuilders Association.

In 1986, the Thomassons bought the adjoining lot and have transformed it into a rose garden. In the garden and around the house are planted an estimated 350 roses.

1223 Rockwood Dr.

In 1985, Lyle and Robin Davis bought this two-story red brick house which had been built in 1934 by Dr. and Mrs. Charles G. Wilson. Since that time, the entrance has been framed with a garden.

The Davises have redecorated extensively with a touch of the Orient evident, and have remodeled the kitchen and downstairs bath. To the rear of the house, a screened porch was removed in lieu of a multi-windowed sun room, accessible through French doors from the living room and the kitchen.

In 1987, the deck was added at the upper level and the patio at the ground level.

21 north ellis

This home, purchased by Bill and Martha Joiner in 1976, had its historic beginning in the early 1900s, when Good Hope Street was the major shopping area of Cape Girardeau.

The Joiners have removed several interior walls to produce an open, spacious living/dining room and family room/study. The kitchen was renovated and a bath was added downstairs.

Upstairs they have taken advantage of every nook and cranny under the sloping ceilings for two bedrooms and a bath. A balcony off the upstairs hall was added in 1989.

33 n ellis

The original part of this house, built in 1968 by Andres and Johanna Brunke, has been modified by Bill Joiner as an office and warehouse. But for the tour, attention will be called to the handmade bricks used in the nine-inch thick walls and to the decorative brick work.

1109 Patricia

This house, built in 1965 by Norman and Wanda Anderson for $14,000, has a spectacular view to the west from the back of the house. The Andersons did most of the work on the house themselves.

Since the 1960s, they have built a deck, finished a basement, added a fireplace, built a brick patio, swimming pool, gazebo, benches and a lily pond.

Two years ago, extensive remodeling work was done on the living room, dining area and kitchen, removing walls and opening space.

White Oaks

This two-story Tudor style home was built in 1981 by Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Kinder and is the site of Saturday night's dessert buffet.

Just inside the front entrance is a Victorian love seat, which dates back to 1890. Hanging in the breakfast room is an 1880 bride's quilt with family names embroidered on the squares, with the most unusual of those being "Missouri Side," the name of the first child in the family who was born in Missouri.

The Kinders have just finished renovating and redecorating the master suite with a cove ceiling in the bedroom, and a skylight and new lighting in the bath. The swimming pool and patio are sheltered by towering oak trees.

Proceeds from the tour will benefit LFCS, which provides counseling services to individuals, couples and families and also provides adoption services.