Dedication to decoration

Nancy Polvi's Baker City home, one of seven on Saturday's Historical Homes Parlor Tour, is chock-full of Christmas decor.

By LISA BRITTON
For the Baker City Herald

Halloween is barely over when Nancy Polvi hauls her holiday decorations out of the basement.

“I’ve been working on the house since Nov. 7,” she says. “My kids think I’m nuts.”

Her front porch and lawn are festive, with snowmen, shooting stars and lights, but it’s the interior of this 1938 home that gets the royal Christmas treatment.

A Santa collection covers her entertainment center, all the wall art is themed for holidays or winter, and the tree in the corner is loaded with ornaments.

“It took me three days,” she says of the tree.

Polvi is a master at finding bargains, and she always keeps her eyes open for Christmas items at yard sales, second-hand stores and dollar stores.

“You can’t believe what you find at yard sales,” she says. “The thing that makes (the tree) most beautiful is the cheapest thing of all — those plastic snowflakes.”

Every surface speaks of holiday in this house, and a lot is what she calls “repurposed,” such as the framed holiday artwork that started as Christmas cards.

Though the spaces are fairly small — the beds are placed at an angle to fit in the bedrooms — she makes every room feel cozy and Christmasy.

It’s a place to feel the holiday spirit, and this Saturday she will open her home at 2510 Campbell St. during the 27th-annual Historic Homes Parlor Tour organized by Historic Baker City Inc.

The tour is from noon to 5 p.m., and takes about two and a half hours. It is self-guided.

Tickets are $15 per person, or $12 for seniors and students. Group discounts are available.

Tickets can be purchased Saturday at the HBC office, inside Basche-Sage Place, 2101 Main St.

This year’s event features seven homes, plus the Masonic Lodge, Oddfellows Hall, and a refreshment spot.

Two special stops are the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Gingerbread Festival (tour the historic church and then sample fresh gingerbread and cider) and the Baker County Library, which will exhibit historic photographs of the featured homes and provide information on how to research the history of your home.

Parlor Tour tickets are not required for the library or the Gingerbread Festival.

For more information about the tour, call Ann Mehaffy at  541-523-5442.