The Herald-Zeitung

Those wishing for clever holiday decorating ideas for the home need look no further than the New Braunfels Republican Women Christmas Tour of Homes, which takes places from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, in New Braunfels and Gruene. This year’s 15th annual tour of homes features six homes, including some built in the 1800s and early1900s, that have been lovingly refurbished by their owners.

“Since 1993, New Braunfels Republican Women have successfully conducted the Christmas Tour of Homes with structures of historical importance and ones of extraordinary beauty. This year is no exception,” said Sami Devillier, Tour of Homes chair.

Some of the gems on the tour include an unassuming waterfront home that hides a wealth of space and decorating expertise behind its modest front entrance; a home filled with yellow walls, white baseboards, plenty of light and palm trees to bring an island feel to Gruene and a large home updated with color and a spa and filled with Christmas magic.

Here’s a quick peek inside:

2193 Waterford Grace

Home of Gary and Jamie Seals

A look at Gary and Jamie Seals’ house doesn’t prepare one for the spacious rooms the unassuming home houses at the end of Waterford Grace in the Southbank Subdivision. From the street, the house appears to be a modest-sized, one-level home, but it actually “hides” a lower level that opens to a swimming pool and Lake Dunlap.

The Seals moved into the home in 2004, but not before gutting the home and completely updating the house.

“There’s not really anything that’s original to the home,” Jamie said. “We took out the white carpet, white tile, white laminate countertops and wallpaper. We also took off the white siding on the outside.”

The result was a dining room, kitchen and living area with deep chocolates and burgundy balanced out with refinished kitchen cabinet doors in a light beige. Framed within the dark brown cabinetry, it makes for a dramatic effect in the kitchen. Another highlight is the adjacent dining area where the Seals added a dark chocolate tin tile inset to the ceiling.

“That is probably one of my favorite parts of the home,” Jamie said.

An animal print rug, laid across the dining table, adds drama to the area. Gary Seals, a managing partner of

Hill Country Furniture Partners, which has most of the franchises for the majority of Ashley Furniture

Homestores in Texas, studied interior design in college. The Seals did all of their own decorating.

One of their first challenges in the remodel was addressing the master bedroom that opened out onto the front foyer directly across from the front door. Glass doors led into the bedroom, allowing little privacy. The Seals replaced the doors, with a solid wood plank door, as well as the rest of the doors throughout the house.

Another favorite area of the home is the master bath. The Seals didn’t want to lose the effect of the large picture windows overlooking the Guadalupe, but they did want to enlarge and reconfigure the bathroom. The result is a large walk-through shower that covers nearly three-quarters of the bathroom, and has entrances on both ends of the bathroom. Frosted glass separates the shower area from the lavatory area. Another wall of frosted glass separates the shower from the tub, which sits directly underneath the windows.

Downstairs houses three bedrooms, two bathrooms, study area, kitchen and dining area and media room. The Seals made use of ample storage space by converting one closet into a workout room and another into the second bathroom. The Asian-theme guest bedroom features Asian antiques that the Seals have collected.

153 Chelsea

Home of Rick and Jana Faber

When Jana Faber says she loves Christmas, she means it. After having lived at 153 Chelsea in the Southbank Subdivision for 15 years, she has a reputation to live up to. She says passers-by have made comments about her outdoor Christmas display, and that there is a certain pressure each year to make sure it gets done, but she loves it.

When you step inside the 5,000 square-foot Faber home at this time of year, something magical happens. Every Jim Dawson collectible, every Lynn Haney piece, every Mark Roberts — and there are many of them — has a place. You get the feeling that even if one were to go missing, the whole picture might not be complete.

Upon entering the Faber home, a 30-foot ceiling highlights the living area that includes built-ins and a large fireplace. Guests are greeted by the Three Wise Men on camels, a large unusual nutcracker and Santas and elves everywhere.

One of Jana’s favorites, a Jim Dawson piece, hangs in the center of one wall. The large Christmas tree is adorned with ornaments, each representing a book of the Bible.

“The people carrying the lights around the tree are carrying the message of Jesus,” Faber said.

Faber began decorating in early October and decorates every room of her house. She has a total of five Christmas trees on display this year. She topped her main tree in the living room with flowers, creating a mixture of white and red mums and hydrangeas at the top of the tree for a dramatic effect.

Upstairs, Faber converted a bedroom into an exercise room and spa. The iced blue and muted browns and beiges in the room make for a very soothing atmosphere, so it only seemed logical that Faber placed a tree with iced blue decorations to match.

“I just thought it was very peaceful,” she said.

Here, guests will find many of her “Christmas and the sea” collections such as the braided beard Santa with shells in his headpiece and the Mark Roberts elves that sit in giant nautilus shells.

1609 Vineyard

Home of Michael and Debbie Flume

Rick and Debbie Flume’s home sits on a corner lot in Cotton Crossing and features hand-troweled yellow walls and ceilings with white crown molding and baseboards. Large windows and an open floor plan give the home and airy and tropical feel, enhanced by the large patio/entertainment area and several palm trees.

The walls provide the perfect backdrop for the drawings and photographs of New Braunfels landmarks and famous architectural buildings in San Antonio and other areas. Also included in the home is an original piece, a chest of drawers, by early New Braunfels carpenter Johann Jahn.

For decoration, a focal point includes the Christmas tree with more than 100 copper-beaded eggs. The exquisite eggs feature rich colors of turquoise, royal blue, red and various patterns. They are made by the KwaZulu-Natal women of South Africa.

Flume heard about the eggs from a friend of hers.

“The women make a living on these eggs and only make 25 cents for each egg. By the time the eggs get to us, with all the fees added, they cost about $25,” Flume says.

In the dining area, giant framed Christmas jigsaw puzzles, including scenes of Christmas angels and a jovial group of Santas, add to the holiday décor. In the formal sitting room, another smaller tree, decorated in bright green and red, displays whimsical messages such as “Dear Santa, leave the presents. Take my sister.”

The Flumes have added several other interesting pieces to the home including bar stools that belonged to Debbie’s grandmother and a wooden circular table with carved details that serves as the base for the main Christmas tree.

Austin and Liberty Streets

Home of Moeller/Nowotny

The house at Austin and Liberty streets, which now houses The Christmas Shoppe, was built by Johann Georg Moeller in 1859. He hand-cut the limestone blocks hauled from the nearby quarry.

According to the home’s history provided by Jana Faber, owner of The Christmas Shoppe, Moeller died three weeks after he moved into the home. It was sold to John Mueller in 1881 and then later bought by Jerome Nowotny. Many will remember the restaurant operated out of the home, The Bavarian Village and Gift Shop.

When the restaurant closed several years ago, the home sat vacant. Meanwhile, Jana Faber was looking for a “gingerbread-type” home to house her lifelong dream — a year-round Christmas shop. The Moeller/Nowotny home seemed the perfect place to house nutcrackers, candy canes and Santas. She sat down and talked with her family, and her dream became a reality when the shop opened in July.

The home features original fachwerk, 18-foot cedar beams, rafters and cypress floor boards of random sizes.

Downstairs, small, horizontal windows were reportedly used as lookouts for Indians at one time. Upstairs, the living room houses the home’s original fireplace which remains the same as it was in 1859. Adjacent to the living room is a small room that served as the eating area. The room also houses a trap door that offers a view of all the cedar underneath the home.

The back room was added on and now houses many of the unusual Santas and elves offered at The Christmas Shoppe.

Another room at the front of the house originally was used as a kitchen. The dropped ceilings were removed to reveal the exposed beams. Upstairs, the home’s doors opening out onto a balcony are original to the home. Two upstairs bedrooms feature more Christmas treasures, including Christmas tapestries, wind chimes and collections by Mark Roberts, Jim Shore and many others.

480 Mill St.

Home of Cheryl and Kevin Sellers

Cheryl and Kevin Sellers moved to 480 W. Mill St. about six years ago.

“We were just kind of drawn to this house,” Cheryl says of the home built in 1897. “We like the cracks in the wall, and we like it when the doors won’t shut. Because there are certain times of the year when you can’t shut the doors.”

The Sellers say they enjoy the quirks that come with living in an older home.

“And the plaster is constantly cracking, which I guess isn’t very healthy for a dentist,” Cheryl says, laughing.

The house still retains its original molding, floors and window glass. The Sellers refinished the floors themselves and also added a master suite upstairs. The living room features massive bookshelves (which were reconfigured for the upstairs remodel) and large fireplace. In the kitchen, cabinets were painted white as the walls were decorated with various wine signs the Sellers have picked up in their travels.

They also added a pool, outdoor kitchen and quaint guest house.

For decorations, Cheryl has added items she kept from her childhood — such as a Christmas Snoopy and a mouse in a chimney figurine — as well as some decorations she picked up at various stores because they suited her fancy.

Porcelain cats in fancy dresses are some of the latest additions that adorn the antique furniture in the hallway.

372 Magazine

Home of Barron and Michele Casteel

Built in 1910 by flour mill czar Hippolyt Dittlinger, the three-story house at 372 Magazine St. holds much of its original elements. but it has been updated for a busy family.

“It was already a beautifully preserved home,” says Michele Casteel, who moved into the home with her husband, Barron, and their son in 2007.

They were amazed at the mint condition of the massive pocket doors in the parlor and sitting room and of the judges paneling and woodwork.

“The pocket doors were still working perfectly, and the wood was in great condition,” she said.

Visitors to the home still enter through the original wood door with its oval beveled glass. At the bottom of the staircase, the bronze statue, Sauveteur (the Savior throwing a lifeline) continues to rest on the banister, just as it always has.

The Casteels took down the wallpaper in the home, and used a stucco finish in golden wheat for the walls, providing the perfect compliment to the dark judges paneling. Golf leaf molding was salvaged from the attic and used in the parlor and powder room.

The dining room houses much of the original French landscape mural painted on the upper half of the walls. The room also includes the original built-in china cabinet and the original shelf molding with indents for plates. The floor buzzer in the dining room, at one time used to ring a bell in the kitchen to call servants, was rewired and restored to working order. However, the bell now rings in the basement.

Other features of the home include the home’s original claw foot tub and some of the original sinks that remain intact in some of the rooms. A large sleeping porch also can be found on the second floor. The house occupies about 3,400 square feet, and nearly a quarter of the home is made up of porches.

The lot also consists of a two-story laundry building, carriage house and the former tutor’s house.

If you go

Tickets to the 15th annual New Braunfels Republican Women Christmas Tour of Homes cost $15 (those 2 and younger are free) and are on sale at The Collection, Dancing Pony, The Retreat, Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, The Crossing, Stepping Stones and Ms. Ruby’s.

The tour takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. On the day of the tour, tickets can be purchased at any of the tour homes, which can be visited in any order.

For more information, visit nbrw.org, or call 830-660-7928 or 210-723-5325.