Twenty-nine years ago a few women in the Lake Highlands area got together to form a community service group to help students at then-new Lake Highlands High School. That year the group’s founding president, Barbara Hunt, and her friends raised about $700.

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"They were thrilled to have raised that much money," recalls Ms. Hunt’s daughter, Karen Coffey.

 

Today the Lake Highlands Women’s League boasts 75 members, with a three-year waiting list of area women eager to join their ranks. With this year’s home tour, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 5, they expect to raise at least $35,000 for college scholarships and other community projects.

 

"The tour is our only fund-raising project, and with lots of planning and tremendous support from the local community, it has become more successful each year," Coffey says.

 

Coffey says the tour always includes four homes, two from “old” Lake Highlands and two from the area around Forest Meadow.

 

"We try to have a mix of older homes and newly constructed ones, for variety,” she says. “This year all of our homes, built from the ’60s through the ’80s, have recently been redone or remodeled."

 

One home is decorated in a Southwestern motif, with paintings and hand-painted rugs done by the owner, a professional artist.  At the second house, the antiques dealer-owner has her favorite antique pieces adorning every room.  The third room belongs to a long-time Lake Highlands family, and spotlights the owner’s collection of interesting lamps and customs lampshades.  The fourth home, featured in Architectural Digest when it was built in the ’70s, was recently purchased and redone by the best friend of the original owner’s son.

 

"Every home on the tour is unique, and every one is just beautifully done," Coffey says.  “People like to come on the tour not only to support the community, but to get redecorating and remodeling ideas for their own homes."

 

Besides the home tour, the day features a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and a crafts bazaar and bake sale from 9:30-11:30 a.m., all at Lake Highlands United Methodist Church, 9015 Plano Road at McCree.

 

  Tickets for the tour are $7 in advance or $9 at the door. Luncheon tickets, which must be purchased in advance, are also $7. They are available for sale from any Lake Highlands  Women’s League member, or by calling ticket chairman Sheila Conner at 341-9765.