Northern Utah home tours bring Christmas home for the holidays
The Galbraith Home on 27th Street in Ogden, Dec. 1, 2015, which is part of the Weber County Heritage Foundation's Christmas Home Tour.
The Mitchell Home on 28th Street in Ogden, Dec. 1, 2015, which is part of the Weber County Heritage Foundation's Christmas Home Tour.
The Webber Home on Shamrock Drive in Ogden, Dec. 1, 2015, which is part of the Weber County Heritage Foundation's Christmas Home Tour.
Two home tours over the next two weeks in Brigham City and Ogden will get you feeling cozy in the Christmas spirit and may inspire some of your own decorating ideas.
The Civic Improvement Club, a women’s group from Brigham City, will host a home tour in the Brigham City area from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Cost is $10 and can be paid at any one of the homes on the tour.
Sarah Yates is one of the organizers of the 30-plus-year-old event. The Civic Improvement Club hosts the event to sponsor a variety of youth scholarships at Box Elder High School. Yates said people look forward to the show year after year.
“We volunteer people we know, neighbors and friends, that sort of thing,” Yates said of how homes are nominated.
The eight homes stretch from Willard to Brigham City, plus the Utah State University Brigham City campus location. There are two hostesses at each location, one taking tickets and the other wherever the homeowner would like them to be. The hostesses, along with homeowners, offer visitors information about the homes. There are also door prizes and drawings.
Yates said Mary Young’s home is one not to miss this year as she has a separate cottage on her property decorated for Christmas. “She said it’s like having her own little doll house,” Yates said.
Visitors can start at any home in the open-house style tour and visit any or all of the homes.
The following Saturday, Dec. 12, the Weber County Heritage Foundation will sponsor its annual holiday home tour. The tour runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and people should visit the Eccles Community Art Center, 2580 Jefferson Ave., Ogden, to get started.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at that location for $15 per person and $20 the day of the tour. Tickets can also be purchased at the Shepherd’s Bush, 220 24th St., or online at the foundation’s website.
This is the third year for the holiday tour, which the Heritage Foundation committee decided to do because of the success of the fall home tour, according to Connie Cox, a member of the committee.
Proceeds from the tour will go restore the WWI Statue in the Ogden Cemetery, as well as updating the clubhouse at the El Monte Golf Course, which is on the national register of historic buildings, a fact not many people know, according to Cox.
The tour focuses on great Christmas décor as well as architecture of the homes. Tourists can pick up the required wristband along with light refreshments at the Eccles Center. The tour officially starts at 4 p.m. but is also open-house, so there is no schedule other than the tours ending at 8 p.m.
Mary Galbraith sits on the Heritage Foundation committee and said this year’s tour is a must-see. Her parents, Bonnie and Randy Galbraith, have a home on the tour.
“My mom has a storage shed set aside just for Christmas decorations,” Mary Galbraith said. “It takes her 10 days to put up her decorations and every room is decorated. It’s really something to see.”
Cox said homes are picked by word of mouth and are usually in the same general Ogden area neighborhood and this year is no different, with the focus being on the high east bench.
Mikel and Janis Vause’s home is also on the tour this year. Their home was designed by Sterling Lyon, who studied under famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The home is intact in its original mid-century design on the main floor with the exception of paint.
Brigham City homes on the Dec. 5 tour
- Malissa and Chris Hickman, 195 S. 80 East, Mantua
- Shanna and Karl Bauer, 455 Willard Peak Road, Mantua
- Marla and Rick Young, 870 W. 925 South, Brigham City (cul de sac)
- Kathryn and John Agren,617 E. Forest, Brigham City
- Marie and Scott Leatham, 83 S. 600 East, Brigham City
- Carlee and Devin Rose, 21 S. 300 East, Brigham City
- Nichole and Lance Stokes, 2920 S. 1080 West, Perry (approach from 3000 South)
- Ann and Keith Larsen, 150 S. 200 West, Willard
- Utah State Brigham City campus, 989 S. Main, Brigham City (free)
Weber County Heritage Foundation Holiday Tour, Dec. 12
- Eccles Art Center, 2580 Jefferson Ave., Ogden
- Randy and Bonnie Galbraith, 1523 27th St., Ogden
- Sylvia Newman and Robert Fudge, 1550 27th St., Ogden
- Judy Mitchell home, 1875 28th St., Ogden
- Mikel and Janis Vause, 2685 Shamrock, Ogden
- Dick and Judy Webber, 2785 Shamrock, Ogden
CORRECTION: A previously published version of this story listed Bob Budge as one of the homeowners of 1550 27th St., Ogden. It has since been corrected to list the actual owner, Robert Fudge.