Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOANNE ANDERSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The event has been moved from December to this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 each afternoon, to capitalize on more favorable weather and less hectic holiday times.
The fall foliage is brilliant, and traveling out in Ellett Valley, up onto Laurel Ridge and over into Stroubles Mill promises some colorful scenery.
Randy and Susie Leslie's home in Deercroft is patterned from a house featured in Colonial Homes magazine. The taupe and rustic red house has six columns, an all brick front porch and sits on 16 acres of natural meadows and woods.
Cherry floors, walnut cupboards and multiple pane windows create an interior warmth. The 4-year-old home is furnished with traditional pieces from the bed and breakfast inn the Leslies owned and operated in Bucks County, Pa.
The homes of Ross and Helen Mackay and Terry and Cindy Strock are a couple of miles down Ellett Valley in Country Club Estates. The Mackay house has sweeping views of the valley and was designed with family and privacy in mind. With five children and 12 grandchildren, the Mackays have a lot of activity at the house and strategically planned separate guest accommodations and a master bedroom suite with no rooms above or below it.
The Christmas tree in their living room has been sponsored by Blacksburg Mayflower and Drs. C.Y. Davis, Bill Isenhour, Dave Meincke and Laurie Hudgins.
Raffle tickets for the tree are $1 each or six for $5. After the Tour of Homes, the tree will be at LaVogue in the New River Valley Mall. Drawing for the tree and its decorations, contributed by Best Wishes of Blacksburg and Radford, will take place during the Christmas Store open house early in December.
Down the same street is the Strocks ranch house. Conceived by the owners to be a compatible working and retirement home, it has been decorated with purpose.
"Each lamp I buy, for example, has some meaning in our lives,
reminding us of somewhere we've been or something we've done," said Cindy Strock.
The casual, country house contains one room dedicated as a sort of "football archives," a tribute to Terry Strock's 30-plus years coaching football.
Up in Woodland Hills is the magnificent cedar and stone house belonging to Bill and Vicki Epstein. Encompassing 5,700 square feet of living space, the inside evokes total elegance of lifestyle. Unique ultra-contemporary cabinetry, cathedral ceilings, skylights and generous use of vertical glass make this a brilliant, spacious place to live.
A windy, country road leads to Laurel Ridge where the Isenhours' new
Georgian home sports a traditional tumbled brick exterior and an unusual open traditional interior. Arches and columns separate rooms where walls normally stand.
Closer to town is Ed and Paula Wilder's Stroubles Mill house. It's a "very
friendly" house, said Paula Wilder of the brick neo-Georgian house and its surprisingly contemporary interior. Decor is eclectic, ranging from traditional to whimsical.
Tickets for the tour of homes can be purchased at any of the homes or on the buses that leave the University Mall in Blacksburg and Kmart in Christiansburg at 12:45 p.m. each day. Transportation is donated again this year by Blacksburg Transit.
For more information, call Cynthia Sterrett, 951-7484.
Christmas store fall tour of homes
Saturday and Sunday, 1-5 p.m.; $10 per person
680 Deercroft Drive
1785 St. Andrews Circle
1812 St. Andrews Circle
2271 Woodland Hills Drive
3245 Laurel Drive
3009 Wakefield Drive
Free transportation by Blacksburg Transit departs:
12:45 p.m. University Mall, Blacksburg
12:45 p.m. Kmart, Christiansburg
by CNB