Garden club's house walk is a holiday tradition in Naperville

Here's the deal: you get to keep a new set of holiday decorations valued at $1,200 in exchange for letting more than 1,600 strangers wander through your exquisitely appointed abode.

It's a deal cheerfully accepted by a handful of Naperville homeowners each year when they agree to participate in the Naperville Garden Club's Cup of Cheer House Walk.

And viewing the results of a house walk committee's concerted decorating efforts, combined with each homeowner's own decorations, is a deal warmly received by the public.

Tickets sales for the event have been brisk for each of the past 46 years, club member Sandi Bates said.

It's so popular that the club limits ticket sales to the first 1,600 takers, she said.

"It's a really nice event," she said. "It's steeped in tradition."

Many make the walk part of their annual holiday ritual.

And many women who embark on the house walk make it a multi-generational event, often joining with their daughters and granddaughters for the daylong peek inside their neighbors' homes.

And they do it in style. One group, Bates said, is expected to use a Naperville trolley to squire them around town to the four houses on the self-guided tour. Others have been known to step it up a notch, too.

"I've seen women get a limo for the day," she said.

Specific addresses included in the walk are revealed when tickets are purchased. House walk participants are free to arrive at any of the four destinations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Dec. 7.

Bates said houses with a variety of architectural styles and decorating schemes are sought for the tour. Walk organizers also look for homes in several areas of the city so lines don't get too long at any one location, she said.

This year's Cup of Cheer House Walk includes a traditional home with a subtle southwestern flavor in the Hobson Meadows subdivision; a Victorian row house in the English Rows subdivision with a French country emphasis; a downtown Naperville house with traditional décor; and a home in the Breckenridge subdivision decorated in French country and French provincial styles, Bates said.

The walk is accompanied by the club's Holiday Market. Items for sale at the market include centerpieces, swags, garlands and other items handmade by club members. The market, in the White Activities Center on North Central College's campus, will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 7.

Each walk participant will receive a souvenir English bone china cup and saucer at the market.

Bates said the event is a fundraiser for the Naperville Garden Club. Proceeds fund scholarships for Naperville high school seniors interested in pursuing college coursework in gardening, horticulture and related subjects, she said.

Scholarships collectively valued at more than $130,000 have been granted since 1994, she said.

If you go

What: Cup of Cheer House Walk and Holiday Market, sponsored by Naperville Garden Club

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 7 house walk; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. holiday market

Where: Walk is at four Naperville houses; market is at White Activities Center, 325 E. Benton Ave., Naperville

Tickets: $30

Details: (630) 820-3838 or napervillegardenclub.org