If you’ve ever driven by a particular home and thought, ‘I wonder what it’s like inside there?? now’s your chance to find out.
The Friends of the Addison Township Public Library are hosting their First Annual Home Tour this Saturday, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
For $15, you’ll get to tour two historic township homes as well as two more recent builds. All proceeds from the event will go toward funding the proposed new township library.
One of the more recently built homes on the tour is Cary and Jan Riggs’s 4,000-plus square-foot home at 17 Labbe Lane.
Constructed in 2002, the east coast cottage-inspired home features four bedrooms, a kitchen any cook would desire and a cozy back porch overlooking Lakeville Lake.
With it’s vaulted ceilings, and cozy rooms, the home is essentially perfect for the Riggs?.
‘Fortunately, we had some similar ideas (for a floor plan),? Cary said. ‘Jan likes small and cozy ? I like vaulty. We kind of compromised.?
The couple frequently travel to Maine during the summers and wanted to capture that atmosphere when they decided to build their home.
Hardwood floors run throughout the home, just as it would in a beach house on the coast, and windows completely fill one living room wall that faces the serene lake.
Each room has a personality of its own, whether it be the library/music room or the almost secret bedroom that is nestled between two other rooms upstairs.
Cary said he and his wife would cut out articles and photos from numerous home construction magazines that they liked and also drew sketches that they submitted to their architect before building. When touring this home, make sure you take in every nook and cranny of the Riggs? festive decor.
Mark and Jan Smith’s historic home at 969 Maple Cove Dr. will also be featured on the tour.
Built sometime between 1872 and 1890, the now 3,000-plus square-foot farmhouse has been a work in progress ever since the Smiths purchased it in 1994. ‘When we walked into this house, it was so old,? Jan remembers. ‘I stayed after Mark until we got it.?
The home has seen a number of physical changes, mostly during the time the Fruehauf brothers, who owned it from 1935 until 1993.
The Smiths have been adding the finishing touches since they’ve become the new owners. ‘It hadn’t been lived in in probably 10 years when we bought it,? Mark said. ‘It was in a bad state of disrepair.?
The couple had to remove old, chipped lead paint from the walls, remove flooring that was ruined from water damage and air-chiseled, sandblasted and re-mortared their fieldstone fireplace both inside and out.
‘That in itself took months,? Mark said, adding that it’s one of their proudest pieces of work in the home.
Keeping with the antiquity of the home is an original clawfoot bathtub and two pedestal sinks in three of the bathrooms.
The Smiths were also able to salvage enough wood from the original flooring to cover two of the bedrooms and a hallway. They had their molding and door frames all created to keep with the early American style of the home, as well as installing custom-made push button light panels true to the 1900s.
Along with the antique furniture that graces their home, the Smiths have also accrued many rumors about their living quarters.
Some older residents told them the house used to be a brothel and a speakeasy. Although they have no hard proof of either claim, the Smiths are still happy with their purchase, and don’t plan on selling it any time soon.
‘We don’t ever intend to leave,? Mark said, noting he and his wife would like to turn it into a bed and breakfast someday. ‘We told our children to cremate us and spread our ashes on the property.?
Other Addison resident’s homes featured on the tour include Ernie and Sharon Schafer’s home at 1853 Rochester Rd. and Don and Julie Saville at 945 Maple Cove Dr.
Tickets for the Addison Township Home Tour can be picked up at the Addison Township Public Library 1438 Rochester Rd. in Lakeville, or by contacting Lynn Boehmer at (248) 628-7796.