It is time for the 15th annual Christmas Tour of Home hosted by the Greenfield Historical Society scheduled for 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, featuring four homes, a church and the B&O Depot.
A chicken noodle dinner will precede the tour at the Grain and Hay Building from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost of the meal is $10 and includes chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, slaw, roll and butter, drink and a choice of cakes.
An earlier article included descriptions of the Buckskin Community Church in South Salem and two homes on the other side of the covered bridge in South Salem. Those homes are Kara and Nathan Roberts home at 1285 Irwin Lane and Jon and Erin Goddard at 2943 Lower Twin Road.
The third house is the home of Ruth Johnson located at 749 Jefferson St. in Greenfield. Her home is more than 90 years old and has only had three owners. Johnson has lived there for 30 years. She has an old carriage barn on the property that belonged to a farmhouse on Lafayette Street. The barn still has the feed trough in the attic and the shoot down below. It also used to have two sliding doors on the barn where they took the carriage out on one side and the horses on the other.
In 2001, she had a fire that gutted the entire second floor and caused water damage throughout the first floorof the house. In the last two to three years she has remodeled every room except the kitchen. She also added a new deck on the back of the home.
Johnson enjoys decorating with a country/primitive style. Her favorite room is the family room. It is her place to relax and watch television. Her dining room has a built-in china cupboard with three glass doors on top, three drawers in the middle and two large cupboards on the bottom. She will have one Christmas tree in the home with decorations in some of the rooms. She loves Santas and angels.
The fourth house is the home of Patti Garman at 709 Madison Place. The home was built in 1977 and she has lived there for three years. She wanted a home with an attached garage and basement, which her son found for her. Garman has done major renovations to the home including new kitchen cabinets, new windows, and work on the basement.
Her home is a walk through Greenfield area history with family heirlooms, photos and memorabilia. Each room has many stories to tell about her family or happenings in Greenfield. Garman will have Christmas decorations throughout the home with many of them made by her or her family, including a manger scene and ceramic trees.
The final house is the home of Clement and Patricia Francis at 310 N. Sixth St. It was built in 1936 and is more than 80 years old. They have added a new porch and sidewalk. Clement loves the kitchen where he enjoys cooking while Patricia loves the bedroom with its beautiful wood closet doors and her living room. Woodwork throughout the home is original. Their style is primitive/antiques. The home will have two Christmas trees and a Thomas Kincaid village on display.
The B & O Depot will be open for visitors during the tour. The depot displays were reorganized in 2016 with the addition of Tom Adams’ model railroad display. He has handmade scale models of some of the buildings and homes of Greenfield during the 1920s along with the railroad tracks and depots. In October of 2017, he added new additions of downtown stores of Greenfield in the 1950s and ’60s. In 2018, he included his model of McClain High School. This year he added more of Jefferson Street between Washington and Second streets.
“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. The tour helps the society carry on its work to preserve and share Greenfield’s history,” the historical society said in a news release.
The tickets are $10 for the tour and are available at Community Savings Bank through noon of Dec. 1. Tickets will also be available the day of the tour at the Grain and Hay building and at the homes.
If you need gifts for Christmas, the hsitorical society has many items available including its book on McClain High School available at the Grain and Hay building. Candy will be sold by the Greenfield Lions Club at the Grain and Hay.
Information for this story was provided by the Greenfield Historical Society.
