TEXARKANA, Ark. - Local homeowners will share the Christmas spirit with visitors Saturday and Sunday, opening their century-old residences for this year's Texarkana Christmas Tour of Homes.
The Quality Hill Neighborhood Association offers the tour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day, this time with four homes located in the Smith Burke Historic District and Kelly Bramble
Neighborhood.
This year's homes are:
2217 Laurel St. in Texarkana, Ark. Homeowner is Jeff Brown;
2300 Laurel St. in Texarkana, Ark. Homeowner is Toni Nix;
2124 Glendale Ave. in Texarkana, Ark. Homeowner is Kathy Aycock;
721 E. 12th St. in Texarkana, Ark. Homeowners are Wendell and Mary Warner.
"Instead of tearing down we need to be restoring and keeping these," said Toni Nix of the QHNA, pointing to the P.J. Ahern Home as one that the Texarkana Museums System was able to keep for the city. Nix's home is on the tour. It is 92 years old this
year.
Nix hopes tour participants will gain an appreciation of historic preservation. The homes on the tour possess charming characteristics that can't be replaced, she said. They are worth
preserving.
"They have something that you cannot get in a new home," Nix said.
Nix suggests people wear comfortable shoes. Three of the homes are in the same neighborhood so within walking distance. The homes will each be decked out in their Christmas finery for the occasion.
Money raised at the previous Christmas Tour of Homes was used to purchase planters for downtown Texarkana. The organization meets monthly.
(Tickets: $25. Tickets can be used during one day or split for both days. Buy tickets online via Eventbrite.com or the Facebook event page. They can also be bought at J Brown for the Home or at the door of any of the homes, cash only. More info: Call Toni Nix, QHNA president, at 903-276-7447.)