It wasn’t love at first sight for the historic Everett home on Rucker Avenue.
“There wasn’t much I really liked about it,” said Ardie McLean when she and her husband, Gary, were house hunting.
Although the home was built in 1908, its more recent history included a 15-year stint as a rental.
The molding had been stripped downstairs. The plaster was buckling. And that’s just the beginning.
The extensive remodeling project that began after the couple bought the house in 2015 might more accurately be called a rescue.
“Now it’s just a pretty little house,” Ardie McLean said. “We brought it back to 1908.”
Their American Foursquare is one of five homes on the Assistance League of Everett’s annual self-guided Holiday Home Tour on Dec. 3. The Hartley Mansion also is on the tour, where the Assistance League’s Christmas shop will be based.
The McLeans’ holiday display includes seven Christmas trees, one with a family heirloom of a ceramic Santa that’s 101 years old.
Other decorations include several Hallmark collections, including its nostalgic houses and shops series; whimsical decorations signed by artists; an antique German nativity scene found at a Snohomish street fair; and a series of Waterford 12 days of Christmas bells.
“It’s really fun,” Ardie McLean said of the tour, a way for people to get into the Christmas spirit.
Pianists will be performing on grand pianos at several of the tour stops. And chefs from seven local restaurants will be serving hors d’oeuvres and bite-sized desserts. There will be raffles for gift baskets and gift cards for sale for an overnight visit to Everett’s Delta Hotel by Marriott and other treats.
In addition to the holiday cheer she hopes the event will invoke, Ardie McLean said there’s another reason to support the event. “It’s benefiting the kids in our area,” she said.
One of the Assistance League’s biggest projects is Operation School Bell, which provided nearly 4,000 students from 15 school districts the opportunity to pick out three school outfits and other necessary items at its thrift shop on Evergreen Way. Volunteers buy new clothing for students with the proceeds from the store.
Another 916 high school students were given a budget to buy school clothes of their choice at area Fred Meyer stores, said Donna Day, co-chairwoman of this year’s home tour. “So many parents have said, ‘We can’t go to a store like this,’ ” she said.
Overall, nearly 5,000 students were able to get new school clothes during the 2017-18 school year through the program.
Home tour proceeds help support Operation School Bell.
The organization also provided grants to 195 students from 24 high schools to help pay for graduation expenses such as cap and gown rental, buying a yearbook or going to a senior event, she said.
“This is an award recognizing they made it through, and we want to help them,” Day said.
The nonprofit also provided six students with scholarships to Everett Community College.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
If you go
What: Assistance League of Everett’s Holiday Home Tour
When: noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 3
Where: Five homes in north Everett
Tickets: $30 in advance or $35 the day of the event
More: 425-252-3011 or www.assistanceleagueofeverett.org/hometour.html
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