Jim and Marilyn Ellis decorating early for Holiday House Tour
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A few area residents are getting the wreaths, bows and Christmas trees out early preparing for the annual Harrisburg District Library's Holiday House Tour.
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 people have the chance to tour four unique Harrisburg homes and see the holiday decor of the First Presbyterian Church. The tour can provide some decorating inspiration and the $15 tickets will help the library to grow, Janet Jones of the board said.
One of those homes is surrounded by farm fields on Ellis Lane, the Christmas Eve gathering spot for the families of Jim and Marilyn Ellis. The library had tried to get the Ellis home on the tour the last three years and each year there was a conflict. Another conflict nearly arose this year with the birth of the Ellis' first grandchild a week ago, but the couple will be ready for the Dec. 3 crowd.
Jim Ellis' family had farmed the land surrounding the home of the Glasscock family. The Glasscocks pledged to themselves when they reached the age of 80 they would sell the house and move into town.
"They raised the hogs for Buck's Barbecue near Harrisburg High School," Marilyn Ellis said.
"We liked the location of the home."
The structure has been in a state of renovation many times over the past decades. The Glasscocks bought it in 1920 and had it raised following the 1937 flood. Thirty-five years ago the Ellis' bought it and raised it higher to turn it into a two-story home.
Then 10 years ago the Ellis' introduced another innovation.
"Jim was a forestry major and he wanted a log home. We had a block house with white siding and concrete on the bottom," Ellis said.
During his travels Jim found Bottle Creek Log Homes in Chattanooga, Tenn. The company turned him down twice, but Jim persisted.
The company's mill sawed logs at 8 inches and Jim wanted 4 inch logs to wrap around the exterior of the home. The company decided since the mill would be shut down over Christmas they could have time to reset the width of the saws.
"The owner, marketing manager and production manager came to the house. They said, 'I think we can do it,'" Ellis said.
The logs were delivered, not only cut to order, but also hand hewn on one side to give the exterior the authentic look. The Ellis' considered long and hard who should do the work installing the logs. Gary Roberts had renovated the interior of the house, but was unavailable to do the log wrap. Separately, and in a stroke of fortune Marilyn attributes to divine guidance, Jim and Marilyn decided their friend Barry Bascom was their man.
"I said, 'Jim, I think Barry's supposed to do it,'" Marilyn said.
The logs were the Ellis' 25th anniversary present to themselves and they were completed in 2002.
History is important to Marilyn, from the light fixture from her grandparents' dining room table that hangs in the master bedroom to a pew from the original Little Chapel Church in the foyer to the numerous items of antique farm equipment that decorate the walls.
The original kitchen on the second floor is decorated in a country fashion with antique bottles and checked tablecloth. The kitchen and dining room is small, but the entire house becomes utilized during the Christmas Eve meal which typically finds 30 hungry guests. Everyone finds a spot and insists the Ellis house is ideal for entertaining, especially on the rare warm Christmas Eves.
"We have eaten out on the deck on Christmas Eve," Ellis said.
The Ellis' will be glad to have their daughters Natalie and husband, Bradly Chang, and Emily and husband, Adam Ward, and their new grandson, Landon Walker, in for the holidays.
Tickets for the tour are available at Child of Mine, Pickford's Flowers, Dream Baskets and Harrisburg District Library. Proceeds go to Friends of the Harrisburg Library for future expansion of the library to include a community room and additional study space. Tours of years past have raised about $4,000, Jones said.
There will be a $8 lunch catered by Mackie's Pizza at the First Presbyterian Church Annex from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. People may begin the tour at the library where there will be snacks all day or take a self tour of the homes.
The tour includes the homes of:
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Jodi and Steven Duncan, 521 E. Poplar St., Harrisburg;</li>
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Marilyn and Jim Ellis, 1250 Ellis Road, Harrisburg;</li>
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Karen and James Pluess, 112 W. Walnut St., Harrisburg;</li>
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Anne Utter, 201 N. McKinley St., Harrisburg;</li>
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First Presbyterian Church, 34 W. Poplar St., Harrisburg.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
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