Christmas Tour of Homes in Greenfield Dec. 6
By Harold Schmidt
Greenfield Historical Society
It is time for the 11th annual Christmas Tour of Homes in Greenfield hosted by the Greenfield Historical Society.
The tour will be held from 12:30-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6. The tour will feature five homes, a church and the Konneker Education Museum.
A baked steak dinner will precede the tour at the Grain and Hay Building at the corner of Jefferson Street and McArthur Way from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The cost is $10 and includes baked steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, roll and butter, drink and different kinds of cakes.
The historic church featured this year is the First Baptist Church of Greenfield, located at 125 N. Washington St. The beginnings of this church started in 1829 as the Walnut Creek Baptist Church located about five miles outside of Greenfield.
Hugh and Elizabeth Smart joined this church in 1830. Hugh was instrumental in bringing the church to town in September 1830. Hugh purchased a site and had a frame structure built on the site of our featured church. The first pastor was Elder Jacob Layman.
After 10 years and a very successful revival, the present church was constructed around the original structure in 1840. In 1883, a brick annex facing Washington Street was added. In 1895, two rooms were added to the east end of the stone section. In 1896, six large memorial stain glass windows were installed in the sanctuary and another two in the baptistery and vestibule. Each window cost $70.
This church is Greenfield’s oldest church at its original location. Members of the church will welcome visitors and share some of the special features along with Christmas decorations for the season.
The first house featured will be at 450 North Street, the home of Liticia and Josh Walker. This is our oldest home on the tour and was built in 1901. The Walkers have lived there for two and a half years. Most of the walls were redone and the woodwork stripped before they moved in so they just painted walls to match their taste.
Much of the home is primitive in style with some antique pieces throughout. One of Liticia’s favorite pieces is a Hoosier cabinet in the dining room that she stripped and painted. The Walkers love their kitchen since it is a great place to cook and have family meals. There will be themed trees in almost every room, with a Santa tree in the living room. The outside is adorned with many Christmas decorations also.
The second house is at 320 McClain Avenue, the home of Brenda and John Losey. It was built in 1925 in the Craftsman style with lots of built-ins. The house has been added on to three times, all before they bought it.
The Loseys have lived in the home for over 24 years. Their decorating style is family friendly and they love to entertain family and friends and have them feel comfortable. A large portion of the furniture is family pieces that have been passed down, including a curio cabinet from John’s grandmother.
When buying furniture, they like antiques and vintage pieces. They enjoy their large kitchen because they love to cook but the large living room is a favorite gathering place for the family. The majority of the Christmas decorations will be in the living room with a little bit of “Christmas love” throughout the stairway and other rooms of the house.
The home of Katie Pryor is the third house at 628 McClain Avenue. It was built around 1948 by Red Wylie. Katie describes her decorating style as modern farmhouse. She and her girls have lived here for two years and she loves the coziness of the small home that has a lot of character. When she moved in, she removed the carpet and found the wood floors in good condition. Katie will have a little touch of Christmas in every room of the house.
Tom Schluep and Dan McCray will welcome visitors to their home at 13613 Hillcrest, built in 1957. Tom and Dan have lived here for two years. Their decorating style is modern eclectic.
They have many antiques throughout the home with a beautiful oak piano built in 1900. They also have an original framed blue print. When they moved in, they did a lot of painting, had landscaping done, and added new windows which give lots of wonderful Hilltop views. There will be lots of decorations throughout the home with lots of greenery and Christmas detail on furniture and shelves.
The final home belongs to Linda and Roger Wagoner at 101 Pleasant Hill Drive. The house was built in 2006. They were living in Florida and decided to move back to Greenfield. The Wagoners saw the house on line and bought it through their realtor and have been very happy with their decision.
They have been in the house for two years and have a mostly country style décor. Roger put a wood floor in the kitchen and tile in the bathroom. They love their dining room as a place for family to gather. The house will have decorations in all the rooms with a small tree in the front room and trees on the front and back porches.
Finally, the Konneker Education museum will be open for visitors. It will have a display of paintings done by Jim Roads, a 1956 graduate of McClain High School. He has enjoyed painting in his last years of retirement and will enjoy sharing the stories of each painting.
[[In-content Ad]]
We have notecards of three different McClain paintings done by Jim for sale for the holidays at the Grain and Hay building. We will also like to share one of our newest acquisitions. We have some Formica walls from F. R. Harris’s home displaying decals from his travels to different parts of the world. We would like to show you at least one of the walls that day.
All five families are excited about the tour this year and hope many visitors come through to see all their hard work and Christmas decorations. The historical society truly appreciates all their time and effort. They help the society carry on its work to preserve history in Greenfield.
The tickets are $10 for the tour and are available at the Community Savings Bank starting Nov. 23. Tickets will also be available the day of the tour at the Grain and Hay building and at the homes. Also, if you need gifts for Christmas, we have many ideas available, including our recent book on McClain High School. Come out and support these families by attending the Tour of Homes.