House walks warm up the holiday decorating spirit

Whether you're looking for old-fashioned holiday spirit or new ideas to enliven your own decorations, the answer is the same: house walks.

In the coming days you can tour historic homes on Elgin's northeast side and midcentury or newer ones in Mount Prospect. And don't forget walks that traditionally grab festive crowds in Geneva, Libertyville and Naperville.

The NorthEast Neighborhood Association of Elgin will open seven houses on Saturday, Dec. 3, near the old Sherman Hospital.

The turret and wraparound porch would be enough to pull old-house lovers into the 1894 shingle-style home of Patricia Harkin and James Sosnoski, but there's a bonus, too. Visitors get to see two houses on this lot because in 1948 Dr. Francis Towner built a Cape Cod to use as a clinic behind the main home.

The Victorian whose colonial revival elements make it seem to be getting ready for the less elaborate 20th century was designed by W.W. Abell, a celebrated Elgin architect. Thus the woodwork inside is rather plain, but the leaded windows are impressive, and those in the turret actually curve.

The large red and green Chinese rug from Jim's mother makes the second parlor always seem decorated for Christmas, Patty said.

“It dates from no later than the 1930s,” she said. “I bought the Victorian parlor set from somebody here in Elgin who was downsizing because its red matches the rug.”

The oak mantel with rosy tiles of cherubic youngsters really sold the couple when they bought the house in 2002, Patty said, even though its twisted columns and rosettes were covered with white enamel.

Patty loves the bright solarium off the kitchen, where she grows holly and ivy and displays her Santa Claus collection.

She also has collected Wedgwood since graduate school when inspired by a trip to Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, and shows it in the dining room and second parlor.

In the rear house, the large area that was once the waiting room holds the extensive library of the two retired professors.

One of the house projects Patty and Jim are very proud of is the front porch, which apparently was never properly repaired and shored up after an accident 103 years ago. At that time water in a tower across the street froze, and when the tower collapsed, wood, metal and blocks of ice crashed across the street and into the porch.

The owners praise their carpenter, Scott Savel, for the square posts with vertical grooves, bull's-eye trim and decorative carving that he created from “ghost” outlines found visible on the front siding.

They also won a Chicago's Finest Painted Ladies award for Quality Painting and Carpentry's work, and rebuilt that small parade porch up high on the south side.

In Mount Prospect the annual tour benefiting the Historical Society will be Sunday, Dec. 4, in Golfview Estates along the southern edge of the Mount Prospect Golf Course.

Pam and Bill Doucette decided to build their neo-eclectic home on the golf course in 2007 because they could not find an existing one that gave them the rooms they wanted on the first floor. And it's a dream for Bill, who received the Evans scholarship for caddies during college.

One of the Doucettes' specifications was a dining room large enough for the table with three leaves that Bill inherited from his grandmother.

They also wanted both a master suite and guest room — which holds a bedroom set from Pam's grandmother — on the main level. Pam's experience as a physical therapist has taught her the importance of accessibility and single-level living.

And the family room that opens on the golf course is similar to the one the Doucettes built onto their previous Mount Prospect house. For three years they used the same furniture, which helped Pam feel at home in the new space. Friends of the Doucettes' 22-year-old twins, Katie and Dave, were amazed when they saw a new room that looked a lot like the old one.

In this room, Pam displays Hallmark ornaments in the Nostalgic Houses and Shops series. The series originated the year Pam and Bill were married, and Pam's mother has given them a new ornament every year since 1984.

The Doucettes decorate the tree here sentimentally with ornaments that have family meaning — including those made by the twins, inherited or collected on trips.

Pam is also very fond of the pine cone tree that an aunt made about 50 years ago, and sets it on the back porch.