Hub Staff
Country charm, modern lighting and gingerbread cookies were just some of the finishing touches that designers used to create Christmas magic throughout homes in the 7th annual Cham-bette Christmas Home Tour November 13 and 14, throughout Saugeen Shores.
A rainy Friday evening didn’t stop ticket holders from house-hopping with browsers going all out by renting limousines and even a bus to shuttle them from house to house.
Gal pals on their third home tour season dressed for the occasion with all the bells and whistles including Christmas sweaters and antlers and an itinerary that would last two days, said perennial ticket holder Trudy Playford.
“We go on this tour for the inspiration, comaradery with friends and number one, for a good cause,” Playford said during a stop in Southampton. Proceeds from the tour go towards the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Staging a home with Christmas decorations that people may already own is what designers Barbara Ribey and Cherie Duhaime of 2 Sisters Staging focused on when decorating a Southampton home. It featured fresh baked gingerbread, Christmas stories as coffee table books and a traditional tree which many agreed was a great starting point for the tour.
Birch, a trendy theme, was one of the show stopping features at one Southampton home. Designed by Kaitlyn Shular of K-interiors and Bruce County Custom Cabinets and Selena Barkins of Bayberry’s, the home had decorations on loan from Owen Sound storefront and design shop barebirch.
Lori Johnston has been a Cham-bette for 35 years and said she likes the older style century homes and that organizing the home tour is a lot of work but their “girls” are their best asset.
“Our girls will tell us if they have a house that would be good to feature and then we go to the owners and ask them. And the designers we’ve picked from around town, by word of mouth,” Johnston said November 13.
When asked about which house on the tour was her favourite she replied with the Grosvenor House. The former Southampton restaurant has since been converted into a private residence, was one of the eight stops on the tour and had been owned by Johnston when it was a restaurant.
Preparations for the tour began in August for Carla Pavlov of CR Designs when she met with the Zorzi family, the homeowners of one of the Port Elgin homes on the tour.
“I met the Zorzis in August and we’ve been slowly working away and doing all the last minute finishing touches that is always required on these tours. You think the house is done and then you look in the corner, and say ‘wow, I need a table there, a light or an area rug’.” Pavlov added that some of the items that are shown in homes are for sale, from bedding to silverware.
“Some of it has been purchased by the homeowners and they get first pick on everything I display in the home, so if they don’t buy it, it’s up for grabs for all 800 people that are going through,” Pavlov said.
The eight homes that were featured in the Christmas Home Tour were the Everest home, 23 Deer Run Court, Southampton; the Hillmer home, 124 Grosvenor Street, Southampton; the Seaman home, 234 Emerald Drive, Southampton; the Sherwood home, 206 Beacon Lane, Southampton; the Patterson home, 482 Creekwood Drive, Southampton; the Zorzi home, 434 Biener Drive, Port Elgin; the Hartel home, 30 Fenton Drive, Port Elgin and the Moss home, 668 Gustavus Street, Port Elgin.
Anyone wishing to have their home featured in next year’s event can contact the Chantry Island Cham-bettes at info@chantryislandchambettes.com
