Home(s) for the holidays; weather cooperates, Faison Holiday Home Tour a success

FAISON — Folks in this small Duplin town will tell you that a Christmas miracle occurred on Sunday, Dec. 10, when the weather turned out to be blustery but otherwise pleasant, despite gray skies and gloomy forecasts, resulting in a near-perfect day for the Faison Holiday Home Tour.

The Home Tour, held from 2 to 6 p.m., was returning after a several-year hiatus, and threatening weather was foremost on the minds of everyone involved, including members of the Faison Improvement Group (FIG), the organization for whom the event was a fundraiser. FIG member and Home Tour chairwoman Wilma Taylor said that one person was appointed to monitor the weather throughout the event. “We didn’t want to cancel just because of rain,” she noted, “but if we’d had a real warning of tornadoes, we would have canceled.”

As it turned out, Mother Nature largely cooperated (with rain moving in just during the last half-hour or so), and the event was a success. “It could not have gone any better,” Taylor reported. “All the FIG members worked so well together, and all of the homeowners were so welcoming and all of the guests were so respectful.” She estimated that 60 to 70 visitors participated in the tour.

Five properties were included: the Faison Presbyterian Church and four private homes, with the church being the starting point. Here, visitors were greeted by FIG members and were invited to sit in the sanctuary — beautifully decorated with a Chrismon tree and poinsettias — where town historian Anne Taylor talked about the church’s history, noting that the first building constructed by the Faison Presbyterians was called “Union Church,” since it was also attended by the Baptists, Episcopalians, and Methodists. Although many changes have come over the years — the various denominations eventually built their own buildings, there is no longer an Episcopalian church in town, and African American and Hispanic churches have been established — she emphasized, “We still work together and love one another.” This was a sentiment on full display, as Faison residents welcomed strangers into their holiday-decorated homes.

Leaving the church, visitors were directed to the home of Kim and Jason Lee. The Lees built their one-and-a-half story country home in 1998, moving in less than a week before Christmas. With so little time and almost no decorations — they were newlyweds — they made do with a borrowed artificial Christmas tree and a few window candles that first year. In the years since, they’ve enjoyed doing a lot of decorating for the holidays, although, Jason admitted, “We’ve done a little bit extra this time.” Indeed, this was a common theme with all the homeowners on the tour: All said they typically put up a lot of Christmas decorations, but everyone expressed going the extra mile (or, more appropriately, putting up the extra bow) in anticipation of welcoming visitors.

The Lees began decorating (and John was quick to point out that credit for the lion’s share of the work goes to Kim) on Nov. 25 and hung their last piece of garland Dec. 8. They — like the other homeowners — have mastered the art of putting Christmas on practically every shelf and in practically every corner, yet still masterfully avoiding the pitfall of overdoing it. Among their many decorations, a tall tree stands just inside the front door, greeting visitors with a multitude of colors, from the mini, multi-colored lights to the ornaments in various styles, shapes, and sizes to the glitter stems and bows. Nearby, three very different representations of the Nativity are displayed atop an antique piano. Like many families, they have collected a wide variety of ornaments over the years, and those ornaments — for example, the Star Wars ornaments their kids favored and an elf ornament Jason made as a young boy — bring back special memories every year they’re placed on a tree.

As to why they decided to allow their home to be included on the Tour, Jason said, “We like to support our community, and we thought this would be a way to give back to Faison and the surrounding community.”

The next two homes on the tour were the side-by-side residences of Carla and John Anderson and John’s parents, Jean and Doug Anderson. As a result of both couples deciding to downsize in 2019, Carla and John moved into the house previously owned by Jean and Doug (built in 1990), and Jean and Doug, in turn, built a new, smaller house next door.

Among the standout decorations in Carla and Doug’s home is a tree featuring elves. “They make me happy,” Carla said of the festive creatures. “I try to add to my collection every year.” A pair of colorful elf legs — with green and white polka dots, and red and white stripes — are special to Carla, as they were originally part of her mother’s decorations, so she prominently showcases them as the centerpiece of a mistletoe wreath.

As stated earlier, most of the homeowners, already consummate decorators, upped their game for this year’s visitors, and in Carla’s case, this meant adding a small tree — tucked inside a ceramic Santa boot — to a shower stall, proving that no space is off-limits when it comes to Christmas.

Carla spent about three weeks decorating inside her and John’s home and a weekend decorating outside, but she noted that she also had a hand in helping with two of the other homes on the tour, so, she said, “I’ve been decorating since October.”

As for participating in the Home Tour, she explained, “I was glad to do it once I found out it was for FIG,” noting the many good things FIG does for the town (for example, sponsoring a Farmers Parade in March and a Cemetery Ghost Walk in October).

Next door, in the 1,086-square-foot home of Jean and Doug Anderson, Jean recalled that when she was asked by Wilma Taylor to participate in the Home Tour, she jokingly responded, “Can I just give a donation?”

Actually, she happily agreed to take part, and, in fact, was completely unconcerned about the rain that had been forecast for the day and the possible mess that might be dragged into her home. “You can wipe it up!” she exclaimed, adding that she had raised two sons and has four grandsons (for whom she has four colorful stockings hanging from a credenza.)

Jean usually puts up her Christmas tree in mid-November but she got an earlier start this year. “I put my tree up the last of October,” she said. “Then I just kept piddling and piddling and piddling. You’ve got to do a little bit more and a little bit more.” It was obvious that her work wasn’t in vain, as visitors crowded together in the fairly small space, admiring decorations in every room.

The tour concluded at the 140-year-old residence of Lissa and Michael Stempek. The Stempeks moved from Boston, in July of 2020, to Faison, settling into their historic home — which features elements of Greek Revival and Italianate styling — and embarking on extensive renovations that would take three years to complete (thanks largely to supply-chain issues caused by Covid).

Because of constantly being under construction, this is the first year the Stempeks have been able to decorate for Christmas since relocating to Faison. “We hadn’t seen our Christmas decorations since 2019,” Lissa pointed out.

They embraced being on the Home Tour, both as a way of letting people in the community see the work they’ve done and also as a way to support the town and FIG. “Mike and I are both involved in FIG and we feel strongly about the organization and would like to support it any way we could,” Lissa said.

The Stempeks own many long-treasured decorations, one of the most special being a Nativity that Lissa made 52 years ago and that, because of their belongings being packed for so long, they feared had been lost. Fortunately, it was eventually discovered, stored beneath a bed, and is now displayed on two shelves in Mike’s office.

When it comes to decorating — be it holiday or otherwise — Lissa has a motto: “You gotta have some whimsy!” Therefore, whimsical touches show up throughout the Stempek home. On the door between the front hall and the kitchen, for example, hangs a wreath (made by Lissa; she makes all her wreaths) featuring traditional Christmas balls — but punctuated by an elf hat and legs. Nearby is a pencil Christmas tree, decked out with stars and curly candy canes made of black-and-white checked fabric. Throughout the house, whimsy shows up alongside tradition, creating a fun, festive atmosphere.

On the morning following the Home Tour, Wilma Taylor said she had received a call from a guest who took part in the tour, and that person had just one suggestion — that FIG hold another tour next year. That’s likely a suggestion that would be seconded by many.