Homes for the holiday

STEUBENVILLE - The Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County has read the minds of its patrons in planning a second installment to a 2008 holiday event checked out with success.

The second-annual Holiday Home Tour and Open House is on the calendar for Dec. 12, an event featuring six area homes in Steubenville, Wintersville, Richmond and Toronto, according to Jennifer Cesta, the library system's public relations director.

"The tour of homes began last year as part of the library's Out 'n About series where programming is taken out of the library and onto the road," Cesta said.

"Books and DVDs about decorating the house are popular, so it's no wonder that it was well received last year. Since everyone enjoyed the tour last year, we repeated the idea," Cesta said.

"This year, however, because of a significant decrease in funding, the library asks for a donation to participate at each of the Out 'n About series," she added, noting the tour requires a $20 donation per person and that each participant be a library card holder.

The tour begins at 11 a.m. at the main library at 407 S. Fourth St., where participants are divided into groups, given a set of directions and drive themselves to the homes, having until 4 p.m. to complete the tour.

Registration should be made by Dec. 7 by calling the library at (740) 282-9782.

"Each group starts at a different home, so we're not all at one home at the same time," Cesta said.

The main library's open house is another attraction of the day following Steubenville's Christmas Parade. It will include the Gem City Brass playing holiday music at 1 p.m.; movie and a craft for children at 1:30 p.m.; and John Holmes signing copies of his book, "From Frontier Fort to Steel Valley," which will be available for purchase.

The tour includes the homes of Francesca Carinci, 3135 Sunset Blvd.; Bob and Christine Hargrave, 2 Laurel Woods, Wintersville; Lester and Rita Lemley, 36 Kings Drive, Steubenville; Pat and Barb Davis, 7499 state Route 646, Richmond; Walter and Nancy Stanak, 1007 Pierce Ave., Toronto; and Forrest and Tami Wietfeld, 4641 county Road 26, Wintersville.

Here is what participants can expect to see.

LOVES TO DECORATE

Carinci admits she goes a little berserk around holidays, when it comes to decorating, that is.

And her home at 3135 Sunset Blvd., somewhat of a landmark in Steubenville, requires much time, attention and energy to do so, a passion the 16-year attorney embraces.

"It takes me weeks," estimates Carinci, who resides with her mother, Mary Carinci, and dives into Christmas decorating the moment she packs away the Thanksgiving trimmings.

The house is no small spot to adorn - 4,400-square feet ("the gas bill will tell you that," she jokes); there are 60 windows; seven bathrooms; and separate servants' quarters transformed into a guest area.

Carinci fell in love with the place the moment she walked into its empty spaciousness in February 2004, and it's been her pet project ever since.

"Most of the neighbors joke that they see construction workers from Rick Miller Construction in the house much more frequently than they see me," Carinci said. "It's similar to the 1980s TV show 'Murphy Brown' where Murphy's (Candice Bergen's) house was constantly under construction, and scaffolding was everywhere."

The home was designed and built by Joe Pierre, having been completed in 1950. Carinci said Pierre supposedly visited the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles in the late 1940s or the Rat Pack era of Hollywood and saw a house similar to it, deciding he would build one for himself in his hometown.

"The home was state-of-the-art for its time and had features never before seen in our area," she said. "First the granite was laid by a crew from Italy. The marble foyer and fireplace were shipped from Italy as well. There was climate control in the heating and cooling system, which was a new concept for 1950," she explained.

"The basement is fortified with bomb shelter brick. The walls are reinforced with cement throughout the house exactly as the old Grant School (in downtown Steubenville) had been built. Inspectors from 'Pillar to Post' in East Liverpool commented that you could literally run a herd of elephants through the house, although I've never tried it," she quips. "The house was built literally to withstand a bomb blast," she added.

Her passion for decorating parallels her passion for celebrating life each day, she says, with one complication/challenge.

"I quickly learned that the size of the house was not conducive to standard wreaths and decor, so I had to learn to make my own," she said. "I watched hundreds of Martha Stewart On Demand shows. I read books and haunted Joann Fabric and other crafts stores until I figured out how to make huge wreaths and other festive regalia that adorn my home year-round," she said.

As one who never misses a season or holiday to decorate, Carinci enjoys the end results of her decorating and is happy that area residents do, too.

"I am thrilled that the locals constantly comment upon how much they enjoy my decorating. I have seen teens on the lawn taking photos after football games and young parents bringing their children to take a closer look at my Christmas decor. I am so happy to have brought light and life to Sunset Boulevard. I think Mr. Pierre wanted to build a house to share, and I feel the same way."

Being a part of the tour serves multiple purposes. "It's something I feel I like doing for the community. I just love that people enjoy it," said Carinci, who said putting up decorations - including seven trees and at least 40 sets of outdoor lights - is part therapy, part hobby, all purely a creative outlet.

"Christmas is a special time for me. I am blessed to have my mother living with me. She and I enjoy cooking and baking. Decorating for Christmas takes weeks. I so appreciate all of the friends and family who have helped me lug the wreaths and other heavy items up from the basement. I start planning and purchasing the materials in the summer months for Christmas," she said.

"My house is the hub for all family activity," she adds. "I try to have a family gathering at least once a year. I am very excited to open my home to the community and even more so to benefit the library," Carinci said.

"I spent hours in the library on Fourth Street when I was a child. I was an avid reader and loved doing my school projects in front of the stacks."

PLENTY OF HO, HO, HO

Bob and Christine Hargrave like their Santas, having been collectors of Old St. Nick since they married 15 years ago.

"One of our hobbies has been collecting unique Santas of all sizes, which will be displayed throughout the house along with several Christmas trees," says Christine.

Their first Santa was bought in Naples, Fla., and the collection includes ceramic, doll and even singing Santas. Christine's favorite is the Stone Soup Santa, its expression in particular.

"I just love that face," she says.

The Hargraves reside at 2 Laurel Woods in Wintersville. "Our home is one of five on a private road just outside of Wintersville. It is in a beautiful wooded neighborhood," explained Christine, co-owner of Cattrell Cos. Inc., a construction company located in Toronto for three generations. Bob is an attorney.

One Christmas tree is especially unique, to be adorned not only with baby's breath flowers but real candles to boot.

"Each year, several times, we light the candles and sing carols with family and friends," says Christine of the holiday tradition. "We each have two children, and our blended family blesses us with eight grandchildren."

The Hargraves serve on many local boards, both civic and charitable, including the Community Foundation of Jefferson County Board, which Christine chairs.

Visitors to the Hargraves can expect to see several special nativity scenes and an illuminated village scene in addition to being treated to samples of wine and cheese.

FEELING THE

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

A more rural stop on the tour is the home of Pat and Barb Davis at 7499 state Route 646 outside Richmond.

The new 2,700-square-foot luxury log home has been the Davis residence for little more than a year.

The decorating style will be traditional Christmas, according to Barb, with the first floor having a southwestern flair to it, from pottery and animal mounts to Navajo and Sioux Indian touches.

The upstairs loft, meanwhile, is a traditional children's Christmas complete with a 7-foot tree adorned in honor of Winnie the Pooh, Barb's favorite childhood character and an item she has collected for 20 years.

The outdoors is Pat's domain, from its trimming in icicle lights to a variety of free-standing displays all synchronized to music.

Live entertainment is hoped to be on hand to visit greeters along with another attraction - a cookie house created by Barb and 16-year-old niece Molly Juresko of Steubenville. They'll sell tickets for a drawing for it with proceeds to benefit the library.

That there is decorating indoors and outdoor is a Christmas miracle in itself in addition to Pat volunteering to participate in the tour, according to Barb.

"Pat is very excited because this is the first Christmas he's celebrated in 30 years, an accomplishment, a testament to him never giving up on his depression and willingness to get better," she said.

"Pat has suffered from depression almost his entire life. He had tried all the medications and treatments, was in a study at UPMC, but nothing worked," Barb said.

In 2007, Barb said her mother saw a story on "60 Minutes" about a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic doing deep brain stimulation for patients with Parkinson disease but discovering it helped their depression "so they started to study the procedure on patients with just depression and found it worked really well."

Barb did some online research and contacted doctors at the clinic. "After reviewing Pat's medical history and interviewing him, they accepted him into the study, and he had surgery in November 2007. At that time he was only the 16th person to have it done just for depression alone," she explained.

There were some complications, but with monthly visits to Cleveland Clinic to monitor and check the stimulator, a year of adjustments brought results.

"It took over a year of adjustments for it to begin to work but when it did, it was something to see," says Barb. "He went from spending days on end holed up in the bedroom in the dark, not wanting to do anything, to (spending) most of the day talking to me, wanting to be around people and after having no desire to celebrate the holidays in at least 30 years, this year he has turned into a decorating nut and put our house in the library's tour of homes for the holidays."

ALL ABOARD

Lester Lemley has been a train enthusiast for decades, ever since he had his first train ride at age 12 - a trip to Pittsburgh taken with an aunt.

His interest comes somewhat courtesy of family history. His grandfather worked for the B&O. His grandmother was the first woman station master in the early 1900s in Australia where Lester was born.

And it was a cross-country train ride that brought him as a 4-month-old baby and his mother to the United States, their trip intending to unite them with his father awaiting their arrival in New York, but the train took them straight ahead to their destination to Steubenville.

"Somehow we got our wires crossed," Lester said in explaining the traveling mix-up. They were let off in Steubenville where the Jefferson County jail is today, a location he says some people still dispute, but Lester has a photo - in a clipping - that a Herald-Star photographer snapped of him and his mother there.

A model railroader, not a collector, Lester will showcase the basement of his home for the tour, a 50-by-28-foot display of at least 1,200 cars, 150 engines, 500 feet of track and umpteen switches, all of it geared to realism, all of it reflective of 1957 and earlier.

Like an elf working up to the last minute in Santa's workshop, Lester will put finishing touches on the display in the downstairs - his domain. Upstairs, meanwhile, is wife Rita's territory, accentuating her decorating touches.

Lester is a retiree of Weirton Steel and former longtime Little League coach of fast pitch softball. He and Rita have four children between them, 10 grandchildren, including 17-year-old granddaughter Caitlin, whom they are raising, and one great-granddaughter.

Lester is one of 15 local members of the Ohio River Northern Railway Association that meets weekly at members' homes and also is a member of the National Model Railroad Association

"It's really a great hobby," Lester said of his passion, which brings satisfaction in the camaraderie the group affiliations foster.

"I think they'll be amazed by the size," Lester said of the display. "They'll be plenty to see."

A GEM OF A STOP

The home of Walter and Nancy Stanak of 1007 Pierce Ave., Toronto, is a Gem City stop for participants in the home tour.

And that suits Nancy just fine.

"I'm looking forward to the tour," she said, contacted when she was in the midst of decorating as time allowed.

"I've always been a decorator," she said, more so inside than out.

"It takes about a week to do, seven days of honest-to-goodness decorating," she said, explaining she'll have four rooms decorated for visitors, including a gingerbread room and Santa Clauses in the kitchen.

"I really enjoy decorating," Nancy said, noting son George Ely will assist with erecting an estimated 13-foot live tree in the living room.

Visitors will likely enjoy what's in the downstairs.

The sixth residence on the tour is the home of Forrest and Tami Wietfeld at 4641 county Road 26, Wintersville, one of the homes on the tour last year.

"The library is appreciative of the homeowners who generously are sharing their homes with our customers," said Cesta, who already has her sights set on planning the 2010 holiday home tour.

"We have a few houses lined up for next year," she said. "If anyone has a special collection or likes to decorate and would like to open their home for next year, please contact me now."

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)