Seasonal Showcases:
Legacy League Tour Features Five Homes
Guests on this year’s Legacy League Christmas Home Tour will have plenty of chances to get in the holiday spirit after seeing the season’s best on display in five homes in the Over the Mountain area.
The Legacy League, an auxiliary of Samford University, will present its third annual Christmas Home Tour Dec. 12. There are four homes in Vestavia Hills and one home in Mountain Brook on the 2013 tour.
Proceeds help provide scholarships to Samford University for deserving students with financial need.
The homes on the 2013 tour include newer houses that look like they’ve been a part of their neighborhoods for decades and a home built last year that blends Mediterranean and European influences.
A must-see stop on the tour every year is the home of Samford President Andy Westmoreland and his wife, Dr. Jeanna Westmoreland, at 1994 Shades Crest Road in Vestavia Hills.
Owned for many years by Dr. Dan Merck, a Samford trustee, and his wife, Barbara, the house was acquired by the university in 2007.
Renovations were completed before the Westmorelands moved in and included the addition of a downstairs ballroom with a view of the Samford University campus.
The tour will also feature the home of Redonda and Lowell Broom at 2604 Vesclub Circle in Vestavia Hills.
Visitors to the Broom home will see plenty of antiques among the holiday finery in the house, which was built in 1983.
Redonda Broom said the house she has shared for 21 years with her husband, Lowell Broom, the chair of Samford’s Department of Accounting and Information Systems, has an English flair.
Those stopping at the Broom house on the Legacy League tour will see the antique collection Redonda has amassed since she was a child.
“I love one-of-a kind things, and I love old things,” she said.
Just down the road, tour guests will be treated to a unique holiday experience when they visit the home of Danielle and Bart Yancey at 2312 Shades Crest Road in Vestavia Hills.
Built in 2012, the home’s architectural style is an eclectic mix of Mediterranean and European influences and has an interior that blends rustic elements with modern sensibilities.
The Yanceys owned the home that was previously on the lot but decided to start from scratch to build their dream house.
Also in Vestavia Hills, Legacy League tour guests can visit the home of Janet and Jarry Taylor at 237 Monterey Place.
Working with Thompson Architects, the Taylors built the English country-style home in 2006. The home features a shake roof and other historical nods and an expansive, open interior flooded with natural light.
“We’ve lived in an old house and then in a new house out in Liberty Park, so we thought this design was a combination of the modern and the historic,” Janet Taylor said.
The Taylor home is filled with a mix of Oriental pieces from Janet’s mother and father. Janet’s father, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and a Medal of Honor recipient, acquired the pieces during his travels abroad.
The medal will be on display during the home tour, Janet said.
Visitors to the home of Phyllis and Roye Tinsley at 2800 Overhill Road will be greeted with Christmas cheer in every room of the ranch-style house.
Built in 1947 by Donald Beatty, an explorer and aviator, the house was in disrepair when the Tinsleys bought it about 10 years ago, Phyllis Tinsley, who is head of Tinsley Realty, said.
The Tinsleys renovated the house from top to bottom and included elements to reflect their travels to France.
Visitors will see lavish Christmas decorations in every room, including the kitchen.
Just about every room in the house will have at least one Christmas tree, Phyllis Tinsley said, and the sleeping porch will have two trees.
A tree in the guest bedroom will be decked out with toy airplanes as a tribute to the man who built the house. The travel and exploration theme is finished off with the vintage suitcases nestled under the tree.
Holiday hors d’oeuvres will be served at the Westmorelands’ home.
Tickets are $25 in advance and can be purchased online through Dec. 10 at www.samford.edu/legacyleague. Tickets are $35 at the door and can be purchased at the first home visited. Homes may be toured in any order. For more information, visit the website or call 726-2247.–Keysha Drexel