Visitors can tour five homes show- casing unique architectural elements and festive seasonal decor during
Samford Legacy League’s Christmas Home Tour on Dec. 8.
Proceeds from the sixth annual tour and Holiday Gift Market will help fund scholarships for students with significant financial need and challenging circumstances, includ- ing disability or death of a parent or sibling, foster care and inner-city violence.
The homes will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 8. Homes may be toured in any order. Tickets are $25 through Dec. 6 at samford.edu/legacyleague or $30 at the door of featured homes during tour hours. More information about the event, sponsored by ARC Realty, is available on the website or by calling 726-2807.
Houses on this year’s tour are:
Denise and Ronnie Alvarez,
2405 Chestnut Road, Vestavia Hills
The new brick home, built by Cotton Construction, is open and spa- cious. Appointments were influenced by the Alvarezes’ New Orleans roots, including a brick backsplash in the kitchen and floor in the laundry area and pecky cypress wood installed on the ceilings. The kitchen includes a T-shaped island and the back porch features an outdoor fireplace and large areas for gathering. The upstairs master bedroom offers a view of the Vestavia Country Club golf course. Down the hall, the bedroom designed for their grandchildren is reminiscent of a train’s sleeper car, with four pri- vate nooks that each have a twin bed with curtains and a light for reading or watching movies before bedtime.
Joy and Price Kloess, 2862 Stratford Road South, Birmingham
The Stratford Road home of Joy and Price Kloess offers a panoramic view of the city. Built in 1924 by W.B. Hillhouse, the home is “a brick bungalow with a formal twist,” as Joy Kloess described it. The couple had the kitchen renovated in 2015
by Cindy Cantley of Cantley & Company. The house is decorated for Christmas with four-foot magnolia wreaths sprayed gold and hung inside and outside the expansive dining room window. Lots of greenery, clas- sic ribbon, seeded eucalyptus and staggered caramel-gold candles add elegance throughout the home, and the couple displays a large ceramic Christmas tree, made for Price Kloess by a patient during his residency in San Antonio.
Allison Morgan,
3008 North Woodridge Road, Mountain Brook
The 62-year-old home of Allison Morgan, renovated three times, has an open floor plan and several outdoor entertaining areas. The home features an alfresco dining area, a koi pond by the den and a swimming pool. A second koi pond, bubbling fountain and private sitting area are nestled in a walled garden just off the master bedroom. The master bath’s uncon- ventional design includes an island with sinks on facing sides and a large two-sided mirror suspended above. The home is decorated with items col- lected during Morgan’s years living abroad, including an assortment of exotic bronzes, antique hand weapons and wood carvings. A hand-carved olive wood Nativity from Bethlehem marks the holiday season, and an Egyptian brass hammering depict- ing Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus graces the mantle. A 14-foot lighted Christmas tree stands in the living room. Also on display are gingerbread houses made by her grandchildren.
Carolyn and John Tate, 3248 East Briarcliff Circle, Mountain Brook
Situated not far from the Morgan home on the high side of East Briarcliff Circle, Carolyn and John Tate’s home was built in 1957. Artwork and photographs through- out the house reflect the family’s interests. In the great room hangs a painting Carolyn Tate purchased for her father as a reminder of the time she spent in Paris as a student. Other oil paintings throughout the residence reveal the family’s great love of sail- ing, and numerous photographs of horses are on their walls and table- tops. During the holidays, the Tates set out Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” Byers’ Choice figurines accu- mulated through the years.
Jeanna and Andy Westmoreland, Samford President’s Home,
1994 Shades Crest Road, Vestavia Hills.
The Samford President’s Home
sits atop Shades Mountain in Vestavia Hills. After the university acquired
the home in 2007, a major renovation included adding a ballroom overlook- ing Samford’s campus. Several inspira- tional nativity scenes from around the world are among the holiday collec- tions displayed throughout the home. Elegantly trimmed Christmas trees stand in many of the 14 rooms. More than 100 nutcrackers, ranging from a few inches to a few feet tall, can be seen on bookshelves and hanging on the boughs of a large Christmas tree.
While touring the Samford President’s Home, guests may visit the Holiday Gift Market, returning for its second year. The market offers a selection of jewelry, pottery, art, children’s items, clothing, accessories and home items. Legacy League vol- unteers also will be serving seasonal hors d’oeuvres and holiday treats donated by local businesses and League members.
