Photos: Holiday in the Highlands home tour

Bitsy Fletcher, Cindy Aldredge, Becky Colwill, Jan Stell and Fran Connell

Lake Highlands Women’s League members hosted their 38th annual Holiday in the Highlands home tour Friday, welcoming both newcomers and returning patrons.

You can view my photos from the day here.

“We always come together, and we always come with [realtor] Jan [Stell] because she knows where all the houses are,” joked Fran Connell.

Asked why she wanted to be first in line for the tour, Stell retorted, “so we can be first to lunch!”

“I try to get one idea every year that I put into my house,” said Bitsy Fletcher, another member of the group, “and I enjoy seeing friends that I only see this one time of the year.”

“I like to see how all the houses are decorated and get ideas,” agreed Becky Colwill, a Park Cities resident. “I got my nutcrackers because of Lake Highlands Women’s League home tour. I saw them here and went on a hunt.”

“Home tour kicks off the season and gets you in the Christmas spirit,” said Cindy Aldredge, “It makes you want to go home and get your house cleaned up and decorated.”

“I come with the same group of friends every year,” said Wendy Quenzer. “It’s a fun holiday tradition. Today, I’m just having a fun day, but I’m always looking for good ideas, especially for holiday decorating. Like at Megan Gearing’s house [on Highedge], she had a cloche, a glass container, and she had ornaments inside of it. It was beautiful. So now I’m on a hunt to find one.”

“I loved the house on Hyde Park,” Diana Miller told me. “It was so well-designed with a clean, transitional style – much different from the traditional houses I’ve lived in. We have a vacation home in Colorado that we’re remodeling, so I’m looking for ideas.”

Kim Eltis, a home tour veteran, brought several friends who were new to the event. Though she’s lived in LH for 13 years, Suzanne Flournoy was a first-timer.

“It’s stunning to see what they’re doing – the new and the old. The Cactus Lane house was amazing.”

“The creativity has surprised me,” agreed newbie Jennifer Davidson. “Thinking outside the box and using the dining room for something else – I loved it.”

In addition to the tour, LHWL members hosted a luncheon, with husbands and other “celebrity” waiters, including Dallas City Councilman Adam McGough, RISD Trustee Justin Bono and LHHS Principal Frank Miller. They also sold raffle tickets for a chance to win a playhouse designed by Raymond Harris and Associates architects and built by Henneberger Construction. The winning ticket will be selected Saturday by Councilman McGough.

LHWL was founded in 1969 and has returned more than $2.6 million to the community through college scholarships and community projects. You can add to the total by making a donation online here.