Portland couple open up historic home for Christmas tours

Donations to go to Portland Community Center

Judi Plummer of Portland smiles for a photo inside her dining room Friday. Plummer and her husband, Bob, will host a Christmas home tour 2-7 p.m. Dec. 7 and 2-5 p.m. Dec. 20. The tour is free and donations will go to the Portland Community Center.
Judi Plummer of Portland smiles for a photo inside her dining room Friday. Plummer and her husband, Bob, will host a Christmas home tour 2-7 p.m. Dec. 7 and 2-5 p.m. Dec. 20. The tour is free and donations will go to the Portland Community Center.

Judi and Bob Plummer have a knack for transformation.

photo

AP

In this Oct. 26, 2009 photo, a new single family home for sale is shown in Wakefield, Mass. New home sales fall 11.3 percent in November to lowest level since March.

For the Portland couple - married 59 years - it started while they were dating in the 1950s and would go "junking," finding what others may have considered trash and making it something of their own. Their eye for seeing the potential in what others couldn't is evident in their home, which they will soon open to the public for Christmas tours.

photo

AP/R-STEINBERG

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 file photo, Simon Cowell poses on the press line at the Elton John Academy Award viewing and after party in West Hollywood, Calif. Cowell's brother says the next season of "American Idol" will be the judge's last. Tony Cowell said in his weekly podcast, "The Cowell Factor," that a statement was being prepared that would certify that the acerbic British judge was leaving the popular Fox signing competition at the end of 2010.

While serving as a captain for the 200th anniversary Lewis and Clark expedition in 2003, Bob Plummer sailed the Missouri River and spotted a white home on the top of a hill. The Plummers were intrigued by the home's character and history. It was once the St. Mark's Episcopal School for Boys, which opened in 1890.

But the home has come a long way from when Judi and Bob first took steps inside the house. Judi Plummer said it had been modernized and didn't fit its true personality. They removed a stainless steel sink and replaced it with an old-fashioned, heavy duty one. All the linoleum and carpet was pulled out to reveal the original hardwood floors. Wall paper was stripped and walls were painted an off-white color and given wainscoting.

The dishwasher, refrigerator and oven are kitchen chameleons, hidden by the same material as the cabinetry. An early 1880s Colorado Round Oak cook stove is the focal point of the kitchen.

Because the home entrance is in the back, Bob Plummer created a wrap around porch to mimic the front - one of Judi Plummer's favorite features.

"I love the front. It's very Victorian," Judi said. "It reminds me of Scarlett O'Hara."

The home may be completely redone to the Plummers' liking, but it still undergoes change four times a year to reflect each new season. Judi has a love for decorating, and she is sharing her Christmas home styling for two days in December.

The Plummers will host Christmas home tours 2-7 p.m. on Dec. 7 and 2-5 p.m. on Dec. 20. Each room of their two story home - located at 10402 Highway 94 in Portland - is covered wall to wall in Christmas trinkets and decorations. Antique furniture from the White House Hotel in Hermann, which the couple previously owned and sold to their son, also fills rooms. The furniture, dating from the late 1800s, was abandoned when the Plummers purchased the dilapidated hotel. They've worked to restore it for the past six years.

Judi said she purchases the majority of her decorations and trinkets at discount prices, picking up this and that at thrift stores and shopping right after Christmas. The strategy keeps her home stocked without breaking the bank.

"I tend to be a little over the top, I guess you would say, but I tend to find things that are inexpensive" she said.

Judi has a lot of luck finding silver.

"No one likes to polish silver anymore, that's what I found, so I can find it for pennies on the dollar," she said.

The hundreds of decorations - tea sets, Santas, stockings, Christmas trees - seem perfectly placed, but Judi said there's not a science to what she does. Everything is trial and error.

"I go by - let's try this, this, this, this," she said. "It's not gridded. It's just, "Let me see. I'm going to give this a try.'"

Judi gave her Christmas home tour the theme "Santa's Toy Land."

"I thought, "That would be a fun thing to do,' and the kids love it," she said.

The featured room, which Judi calls Santa's workshop, contains some of her mother's 700-doll collection that dates from 1940-80. Old-fashioned board games, books, blocks and other toys also give the room a child-friendly feel.

With each Christmas home tour, the Plummers agreed they enjoy meeting new people and showing the work they put into their home - from the floors to the ceilings.

"I love decorating ... and I love to show it," Judi said.

Unique treats on the tour include Judi's 1800s clothing that she wore to Hermann's Oktoberfest and Maifest and a peak inside the couple's Roy Rogers themed bathroom.

Brittany Ruess can be reached at (573) 826-2419 or [email protected].