Tour homes for the holidays
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BY KATHRYN CATES MOORE/Lincoln Journal Star
In the fall of 1975, Marilyn and Frank McArthur’s house began its second life. A crew hoisted the stripped-down, two-story house up on a flatbed trailer, and it rumbled from one end of Lincoln to the other.
When it was set down on the newly poured foundation and basement at 501 Pioneers Blvd., the house had a new location and a family that planned on renovating it from top to bottom.
The home was built in 1925 by Henry O. and Estelle Weese on land near the present Lincoln Community Playhouse, according to Ed Zimmer, historic preservationist in the city planner’s office. The Weeses’ daughters, Jeanette and Edna, have visited the home in its current location, Marilyn McArthur said.
The Lincoln Women’s Chamber of Commerce Homes for the Holidays to be held next Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Tickets are $7 in advance from HyVee or participating florists or decorators.
Tickets may be purchased for $10 at the door of any of the homes. Proceeds will benefit The Lighthouse and Habitat for Humanity.
Here is a list of the homes on the tour:
-- The Atwood House Bed & Breakfast, 740 S. 17th St., owned by Larry and Ruth Stoll, decorated by All About Flowers.
-- Missy Di’s Decorating Elements, 1745 C St., owned by Diane Shuster and Melissa Shuster, decorated by the homeowners.
-- 501 Pioneers Blvd., owned by Frank and Marilyn McArthur, decorated by Victoriana.
-- 2905 S. 20th St., owned by Jeffrey and Sherry Smart, decorated by Primitive Treasures.
-- The Lighthouse, 2601 N St., decorated by the Lincoln Women’s Chamber of Commerce.
The McArthurs and their boys moved into the house around November 1976 and have been working on it ever since, Marilyn said.
The public is invited to see the results of three decades of off-again, on-again remodeling when they open it to the public as part of this year’s Lincoln Women’s Chamber of Commerce Holiday Home Tour next Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
At first, there was little more than walls, plumbing and electricity, Frank McArthur remembers. The family used a second-floor bedroom as a temporary kitchen while they finished the first-floor kitchen.
There were some great discoveries — wooden floors that were beautifully refinished and existing crown molding and woodwork. And the two layers of wallpaper in the upstairs bedroom, one of which a former resident brought back from New York City.
And there were setbacks. Every window but one had to be replaced — the original panes are in the living room — and part of the staircase had to be pieced back together.
The exterior brickwork from the ground up to the rafters and all around the house is new.
The McArthurs put on a first-floor family room/master suite addition at the same time.
The brick and mortar work is long ago completed, and Marilyn has filled most of the 4,000 square feet with a lifetime of treasures, photos and travel memorabilia.
Over the years, she also has collected and refinished vintage furniture.
Decorating the house for this holiday tour is like the icing on the gingerbread for her and designer Linda Mae Johnson of Victoriana.
It gives her a reason to arrange and rearrange each room, Marilyn said.
And the results are brimming with at least nine different trees, evergreens, ornaments and keepsakes in every room.
On the first floor, the dining room and adjacent sunroom are filled with some of Marilyn’s favorite things: china — specifically tea sets — and crystal.
Tables are set for an elegant meal. A tree in the dining room glistens with crystal globes.
The sunroom tree is a skinny, quirky “tea” tree, complete with teacup ornaments and hanging silver utensils.
How many tea sets are there in the house? “Lots,” she said. They were inherited, picked up at tag sales and in foreign countries when she traveled as a nurse.
The long living room, with a baby grand piano at one end and an elegant harpsicord at the other, also pops with garlands and antique furniture.
On the second floor, each of the four bedrooms is decorated with a different theme.
One tree holds tiny baby booties, strings of pearls and pastel knitted caps and sweaters.
In another room, which contains an antique metal bed, the narrow tree holds small children’s books, and the dresser top is filled with children’s music boxes.
Marilyn’s office contains vintage suitcases and a globe, symbolic of her travels.
Another vintage holiday nook is in the kitchen, where a Hoosier cabinet is decorated with bright red and green ornaments.
Even the downstairs, which features a unique brick fireplace and floor done by Frank, will have a festive touch.
It is family, not the things in it, that make this house the home it has become, Marilyn said.
But, she admits, the “character” that she loved so much from the first is a beautiful backdrop to family antiques and holiday decorations.
Reach Kathryn Cates Moore at 473-7214 or kmoore@journalstar.com.
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