DARLINGTON - The Lafayette County Commission on Aging is sponsoring the 2008 "Tour of Homes" on Friday, Dec. 5 in Darlington. Tour hours are 2 to 8 p.m. A free tour bus will leave from Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County at 1:45 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and are available at Memorial Hospital, Driver Opera House, First National Bank and First Banking Center. All proceeds benefit Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County.
The Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is having a candle sale, $7 each. There will be a raffle drawing at 8 p.m.
Homes on the tour are: Steve and Jane Cleary, 617 E. Louisa Street; Driver Opera Hosue Center for the Arts, 242-246 S. Main St.; Richard and Carol Komprood-Burke, 17225 Country Club Road; Amie Meylor, 16990 Shortcut Road; and Immanuel United Church of Christ, 339 E. Louisa Street. For more information, contact the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County-Auxiliary at (608) 776-5731.
A description of each home follows:
• Steve and Jane Cleary home at 617 E. Louisa Street - Steve and Jane Cleary purchased the home in 1978 and feel it is important to keep the original character of the home intact. The hardwood floors throughout the home are original, and a distinguished feature of the floors is a diamond shape design in the entry way. In the morning the diamond shape is lighter than the rest, and at night, the diamond shape is darker, displaying the beauty of the floors. Between the living room and dining room are two French doors from 1916. The living room contains two wooden bookshelves framing a window bench and a fireplace featuring an oak mantle. The staircase is the original woodwork from 1916. There are three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. To keep the originality, they have done very little remodeling. In 2003, they added a deck overlooking the Pecatonica River, Black Bridge and the ATV trail. In 2006, they removed half a wall between the kitchen and dining room.
• Driver Opera House Center for the Arts at 242-246 S. Main Street - The board of directors of The Driver Opera House Restoration Inc. and The Driver Opera House Center for the Arts, along with Gary and Laura Jenkins, invite everyone to come and see the before restoration of the Driver Opera House and help celebrate the 125th birthday of the Driver Opera House building. Josephus Driver of Yorkshire, England was a clothier-tailor in Darlington and built the Opera House in 1883 for his sons. The two story, 42 foot wide by 100-foot long brick structure was built out of "Creme City brick" from Milwaukee. Downstairs was for retail and a office, upstairs was the community Opera House where traveling theatre groups would perform live stage. The Opera House has been "dark" for 60 to 70 years as no live stage has been performed. There will be live stage for the tour. The birthday party will help raise funds for the Memorial Hospital Auxililary Theatre live stage and theater movie screen. Enter on the West Ann Street side of the bulding, through the Blue Door Barber Shop. This entrance is where the actors used to enter to come upstairs to the dressing rooms behind the main stage. The actor's dressing room presently functions as the active old-fashioned Blue Door Barber Shop of 20-year master barber Laura M. Jenkins. Come see the second floor via stairs and a steel hand rail and modern chair life.
• Amie Meylor home at 16990 Shortcut Road - Amie and her late husband, Joel, dreamed on having a new home and started construction in the spring of 2005. Steve Brunkow Construction was the contractor. When the home was about two-thirds completed, Joel had his accident. The house was completed in 2006 and Amie moved in in June. The home features an open stairway, stone fireplace, master suite, dining room, office, kitchen and laundry on the first floor and three bedrooms and a sitting loft on the second floor. The landscaping is a work in progress and is nearly completed by Mike Wedig Landscaping. The brick patio outside the kitchen is a favorite feature of the home.
• Richard and Carol Burke home at 17225 Country Club Road - In the spring of 2002 Richard and Carol decided to build their home on a location overlooking the Darlington Country Club Golf Course. The insulated concrete form house was built from their own design with the help of Hidden Valley Builders of Gays Mills and family. The home is handicap accessible with a dining room, living room and kitchen in an open floor plan. Completing the ground floor is two bedrooms, master bedroom, 3/4 bath and a laundry room. Their favorite room is a four-season room where they drink coffee and enjoy watching the birds feeding as the morning sun rises. The lower level is accessible by a spiral staircase, where upon entering you see International tractors. A home-built 1206 and International Super A are parked in the basement. Completing the level is a family room, exercise area, bedroom and full bath.
• Immanuel United Church of Christ, 339 E. Louisa Street - The church is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. In the early 1900s, there were many Swiss families living around Darlington. They had been meeting in an old rock schoolhouse east of Darlington, in various home and even rented other churches. On July 11, 1909, 53 families signed the constitution to form a new congregation. A minister from Monroe, the Rev. P.A. Schuh would come to Darlington on the 12:30 train on Sunday and return to Monroe on the 3:30 p.m. train. All services were in Swiss-German language. By 1917, the Swiss families had made plans to build their own church. They picked a site on the corner of Louisa and Ohio Streets. The house on the site was moved to the lot below the new church and was used as the parsonage. The new church was built in Western Gothic Style, 75-foot by 40-foot, with an 80-foot tower. The new church was dedicated on May 5, 1918. Various families gave the stained glass windows in the sanctuary. A new Fellowship Hall and education wing were added in 1974. Because of the way the lot lays, all the doors are handicapped accessible.
Tickets are $10 and are available at Memorial Hospital, Driver Opera House, First National Bank and First Banking Center. All proceeds benefit Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County.
The Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is having a candle sale, $7 each. There will be a raffle drawing at 8 p.m.
Homes on the tour are: Steve and Jane Cleary, 617 E. Louisa Street; Driver Opera Hosue Center for the Arts, 242-246 S. Main St.; Richard and Carol Komprood-Burke, 17225 Country Club Road; Amie Meylor, 16990 Shortcut Road; and Immanuel United Church of Christ, 339 E. Louisa Street. For more information, contact the Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County-Auxiliary at (608) 776-5731.
A description of each home follows:
• Steve and Jane Cleary home at 617 E. Louisa Street - Steve and Jane Cleary purchased the home in 1978 and feel it is important to keep the original character of the home intact. The hardwood floors throughout the home are original, and a distinguished feature of the floors is a diamond shape design in the entry way. In the morning the diamond shape is lighter than the rest, and at night, the diamond shape is darker, displaying the beauty of the floors. Between the living room and dining room are two French doors from 1916. The living room contains two wooden bookshelves framing a window bench and a fireplace featuring an oak mantle. The staircase is the original woodwork from 1916. There are three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. To keep the originality, they have done very little remodeling. In 2003, they added a deck overlooking the Pecatonica River, Black Bridge and the ATV trail. In 2006, they removed half a wall between the kitchen and dining room.
• Driver Opera House Center for the Arts at 242-246 S. Main Street - The board of directors of The Driver Opera House Restoration Inc. and The Driver Opera House Center for the Arts, along with Gary and Laura Jenkins, invite everyone to come and see the before restoration of the Driver Opera House and help celebrate the 125th birthday of the Driver Opera House building. Josephus Driver of Yorkshire, England was a clothier-tailor in Darlington and built the Opera House in 1883 for his sons. The two story, 42 foot wide by 100-foot long brick structure was built out of "Creme City brick" from Milwaukee. Downstairs was for retail and a office, upstairs was the community Opera House where traveling theatre groups would perform live stage. The Opera House has been "dark" for 60 to 70 years as no live stage has been performed. There will be live stage for the tour. The birthday party will help raise funds for the Memorial Hospital Auxililary Theatre live stage and theater movie screen. Enter on the West Ann Street side of the bulding, through the Blue Door Barber Shop. This entrance is where the actors used to enter to come upstairs to the dressing rooms behind the main stage. The actor's dressing room presently functions as the active old-fashioned Blue Door Barber Shop of 20-year master barber Laura M. Jenkins. Come see the second floor via stairs and a steel hand rail and modern chair life.
• Amie Meylor home at 16990 Shortcut Road - Amie and her late husband, Joel, dreamed on having a new home and started construction in the spring of 2005. Steve Brunkow Construction was the contractor. When the home was about two-thirds completed, Joel had his accident. The house was completed in 2006 and Amie moved in in June. The home features an open stairway, stone fireplace, master suite, dining room, office, kitchen and laundry on the first floor and three bedrooms and a sitting loft on the second floor. The landscaping is a work in progress and is nearly completed by Mike Wedig Landscaping. The brick patio outside the kitchen is a favorite feature of the home.
• Richard and Carol Burke home at 17225 Country Club Road - In the spring of 2002 Richard and Carol decided to build their home on a location overlooking the Darlington Country Club Golf Course. The insulated concrete form house was built from their own design with the help of Hidden Valley Builders of Gays Mills and family. The home is handicap accessible with a dining room, living room and kitchen in an open floor plan. Completing the ground floor is two bedrooms, master bedroom, 3/4 bath and a laundry room. Their favorite room is a four-season room where they drink coffee and enjoy watching the birds feeding as the morning sun rises. The lower level is accessible by a spiral staircase, where upon entering you see International tractors. A home-built 1206 and International Super A are parked in the basement. Completing the level is a family room, exercise area, bedroom and full bath.
• Immanuel United Church of Christ, 339 E. Louisa Street - The church is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. In the early 1900s, there were many Swiss families living around Darlington. They had been meeting in an old rock schoolhouse east of Darlington, in various home and even rented other churches. On July 11, 1909, 53 families signed the constitution to form a new congregation. A minister from Monroe, the Rev. P.A. Schuh would come to Darlington on the 12:30 train on Sunday and return to Monroe on the 3:30 p.m. train. All services were in Swiss-German language. By 1917, the Swiss families had made plans to build their own church. They picked a site on the corner of Louisa and Ohio Streets. The house on the site was moved to the lot below the new church and was used as the parsonage. The new church was built in Western Gothic Style, 75-foot by 40-foot, with an 80-foot tower. The new church was dedicated on May 5, 1918. Various families gave the stained glass windows in the sanctuary. A new Fellowship Hall and education wing were added in 1974. Because of the way the lot lays, all the doors are handicapped accessible.