Homes for the Holidays

Historical society fundraiser gives a warm welcome to Frankfort.

Someone on the planning committee must have been extra good this year. Picture perfect weather complimented the beautifully decorated homes on the 30th annual Frankfort Area Historical Society Holiday House Walk on December 3.

Punkie Ritter and friend Andrea Ladweski, of Frankfort, hit the walk early with Ladewski's mom, a neighborhood friend and Ritter's daughter. "We've done it every year for the past four or five years with the same group of ladies," Ladewski said. "And we all have our jobs. Punkie reads the house descriptions. I navigate. It's just a really nice night out."

The group, along with other guests, were impressed with homeowner Patti Tubbs's towering Christmas tree, which was framed by the arched floor to ceiling great room window. Tubbs's decorating included "stockings hung by the chimney with care" a la Clement Moore and a peaceful snow village tucked into a corner of the upstairs overlook.

At the Victor house, daughter Courtney greeted visitors and invited them to admire three floors of decorated living space. Brightening the entryway, an amusement park-themed snow village spread out below a stylish frosted tree.

"My brother, Kyle, and I each receive a piece every year until we're 21," Courtney said. "Then we'll get to take our village set when we start our own families."

And even the bathrooms featured holiday ambience. At the Ogle home, candy cane-striped tea lights floated in the Jacuzzi tub, adorned with festive evergreen garland by Pattie's Floral Express.

Perhaps the most unique stop on the walk was the Winter Peace Garden, created as an inspirational outdoor retreat by homeowner Helen Pellack-Johnson. Luminaries led to the perennial garden, which sits behind a 100-year-old carriage house and features vintage décor like an antique step ladder, wooden swing and wrought iron café chairs. Most inviting, however, was a tiny brick cottage, which once served as the home's original summer kitchen.

"It was all boarded up when we moved in," Pellack-Johnson said, "But we uncovered it and cleaned it up. It was so cool in here in the summer because of the brick. I don't know how much I'll be out here in the winter, but I just love it in here."

As did Angie McCarthy, Tinley Park. "Oh, can I live in here?" she asked Pellack-Johnson.

"I don't need all the fancy stuff. This is perfect," she added, saying that it reminded her of the Black Forest region in Germany where she has traveled extensively.

Throughout the evening, visitors stopped by the  to warm up and enjoy a cup of wassail or coffee and one of more than 1,400 cookies made by Frankfort attorney John Clavio. The downton Frankfort festivities continue this weekend with the and sixth annual Cookie Walk, which usher in the holiday season with the Village's trademark 1890s charm.