Tickets are on sale for the annual De Soto Holiday Home Tour, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 27). Proceeds will benefit Get Healthy De Soto, a nonprofit organization that encourages local residents to exercise, eat well and make other healthy choices.
This year’s tour is titled “Christmas Through the Years” and includes nine locations – six homes, a Civil War-era hotel, a commercial/residential building and a church, said Melissa McAlpine, Get Healthy De Soto executive director and tour organizer.
The homes range from a recently built farmhouse to a modest, open-plan bungalow to a flamboyant, Queen Anne-style Victorian. Some homes have been remodeled, some have been converted from their original purpose, but all are decorated for the holidays, many both indoors and out, and waiting to welcome visitors.
Tickets cost $15 each or two for $25. On the day of the tour, all tickets will cost $18. Each ticket comes with a booklet that includes a map as well as detailed information about each stop on the tour. Participants are encouraged to wear face masks, and will be provided with booties to cover their shoes while inside the homes.
A raffle will be held for a decorated Christmas tree on display at the Cottage Grove Quilt Co., one of the stops on the tour.
“Karen Stringer and Cara Kirby-House put that together,” McAlpine said. “It’s really beautiful. Raffle tickets are $1 or six for $5.”
Home base for the tour is Jefferson Square just off Hwy. 21; tour participants may start there or at any of the homes, as long as they have a ticket. Public restrooms will be available at Jefferson Square and at Journey Church.
The annual Christmas Market that accompanies the tour will be set up at Jefferson Square.
“I think we have 12 vendors signed up,” McAlpine said. “We have room for about 15, so we probably will get a couple more. Some of our Farmer’s Market vendors will be there, with honey, with metalwork, with turned wooden bowls, a couple of bakers.
“These folks do really nice work, and this is a chance for people to pick up some high-quality, handcrafted items for Christmas gifts.”
Tour participants are encouraged to take photos along the way and share them on Instagram @GetHealthyDeSoto or on the Get Healthy De Soto Facebook page.
“We’d love to see your crew, especially if you’re wearing matching socks,” the blurb in the ticket book says.
Family enjoys country living
This year’s feature home is Amy and Mike Atzert’s rambling, story-and-a-half farmhouse.
The five-bedroom home sits on 23 acres and was custom built over a period of almost two years.
“About seven or eight years ago, we stumbled across this place,” Amy said. “The couple we bought it from were kind of waiting for the right buyers to come along. They asked us all kinds of questions about what we intended to do with the property.”
The Atzerts and their three children had their eye on a country living setup.
“We wanted to have cows and chickens and everything,” Amy said. “And we told them our dream was to have space for our kids to build here if they chose to.”
The couple took their time deciding on a house plan.
“We sat on it for a few years before we picked out or dream house,” Amy said. “We had planned for my grandparents to move in with us at some point.”
The building process took longer than anticipated.
“Mike is an engineer, so his downfall is that he likes things to be perfect,” Amy said. “We started in 2016 and finished in 2018. We got a lot of help from family and friends.”
The Atzerts love to entertain, and Amy says this is a “great house for parties.”
They also enjoy decorating for the holidays.
“We were on the virtual tour last year, but we didn’t do that much,” Amy said. “This year, though, we’re going all out.”
The Atzerts hang holiday garland on the railings of their wraparound porch.
“We also have light-up chickens on the porch,” Amy said.
Indoors, the decorations are more conventional.
“I have a foyer tree, and our main tree is a 12-footer in the great room,” she said. “In my breakfast room I have a mini tree with antique ornaments that belonged to my great-grandmother, and in the dining room it is all White House ornaments that belong to a friend.”
Another featured decoration is the Christmas village hand-painted by Amy’s late grandmother.
“She collected all these unpainted pieces and then painted them herself,” Amy said. “She died eight years ago and my cousin and I inherited the collection. We’re displaying the whole set, about 25 pieces, and we have little trees, little people, all the fun things that go with it.”
How to get tickets
Advance tickets may be purchased in person at several De Soto locations, including the De Soto Public Library, both First State Community Bank locations, Pogolino’s Restaurant, Cherished Memories, Heartland Realty at Jefferson Square, Drummond Florist and Cottage Grove Quilt Co., as well as at Books Galore in Festus. Deadline for all advance ticket purchases is today, Nov. 24.
“If we have any left, they will be available the day of the tour at Jefferson Square,” McAlpine said. “But I don’t think we’ll have many left, so it would be smart to get them early.”
Get Healthy De Soto limits the number of tickets to 300.
“Sure, we’d love to sell more,” McAlpine said. “This is a big moneymaker for us. But logistically, it’s harder to have that many, and we want it to be a fun time for everyone.”
McAlpine said many tour participants choose to make a full day of it.
“They can go to a few houses, then go have lunch,” she said.
In case of inclement weather, the tour will be held from 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Updates will be posted online at gethealthydesoto.org or the group’s Facebook page and broadcast over radio station KJFF. For more information call McAlpine at 314-471-3681.
Tour stops
All properties will be identified with Get Healthy De Soto Christmas Home Tour signage.
Stop A: Jefferson Square, 48 Jefferson Square
Stop B: Ferrell home, 507 N. 10th St.
Stop C: White home, 623 Lansdowne St.
Stop D: Journey Church, 820 N. Main St.
Stop E: Cottage Grove Quilt Co., 200 S. Main St.
Stop F: Arlington Event Center, 207 Main St.
Stop G: Clark/Graf home, 322 W. Clement St.
Stop H: Snudden home, 404 W. St. Louis St.
Stop I: Atzert home, 344 Armbruster Road