Home Tour to Feature a Variety of Country Venues

The Purol home on East Pleasant Lake Road is one of the original Uphaus family homesteads featured on this year's home tour. Photo provided by Carrie Keller.

Manchester's fifth annual Christmas Home tour will once again charm, delight, and inspire area decorators with five beautiful homes, this year centering in the Sharon and Freedom township areas.

Save the first Saturday of December, Dec. 6 to see five families open their homes to benefit Manchester's Main Street Christmas decorations fund. A unique treat of this year's tour is that three of the homes were originally occupied by various branches of the Uphaus family, all built in the 1800s.

"The Uphaus farm, the Purol home, and the Mottice farm, all on East Pleasant Lake Road, will showcase their historic homes," said Carrie Keller, who, with Teresa Benedict, is the co-founder of the popular event. "In addition, the Guest home on West Pleasant Lake Road and the Steele home on M-52, will also be featured."

Each house has its own unique personality and highlights different styles of decorating.

Bright colors "pop" from the holiday table at the contemporary Steele house on M-52. Photo provided by Carrie Keller.

The Steele home is a contemporary showplace featuring bright pops of Christmas color. The Uphaus farm will display vintage wedding dresses as part of its unique decor. Bob and Sandy Mottice will open their meticulously restored cabin along with their blacksmith shop. More surprises are in store at each of the other homes on the tour.

"Each home is a treasure, and we are privileged to be able to invite the community to experience this," says Benedict. "We've made great progress in the purchase of decorations for downtown and this tour will really add to this fun project."

Tickets for the Home Tour can be purchased at Stockwell's, Kellie's Diner, Linda's Diner, The Flower Garden, The Wild Acorn and The Manchester Pharmacy, or by calling 734-255-1498. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.

The Mottice home is another of the original Uphaus family homesteads, and is a familiar Victorian site along Pleasant Lake Road as you head toward Ann Arbor. Photo provided by Carrie Keller.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.