By Rick Winterson

The 27th Annual Laboure House Tours have come and gone once again. In South Boston, these much-anticipated events have always foreshadowed Advent and a joyous Christmas Season. The Tours in the Year of Our Lord 2017 were no different. In fact, they might have been better – person after person who went on this year’s tour commented how elegant and cheerful the homes looked. Add to this the variety of beautiful things available in the Shoppe at Laboure, along with the refreshing pause after the Tours, and it was a great way to begin the Season.

South Boston Online can’t fit a lengthy description of all five homes on the House tours into this article, but we can give a few high points:

A completely refurbished Tour home on G Street was decorated in an “Upstairs/Downstairs” Noel theme. This is a home where a family does more than go in and out. The family who lives here “gathers joyfully”. At another G Street site, a German Christmas home was centered around numerous fireplaces adorned with exquisite German miniatures. The large Christmas tree we now use in America and many of our other Christmas customs come from Germany by way of Queen Victoria, who adopted them to ease Prince Consort Albert’s loneliness for his home during the Holidays.

The approach to the House Tour participant on N Street well suited the motif of “Homecoming”. The exterior lighting was stunning, and beckoned one to take an active part in the homecoming. Chandeliers inside were particularly eye-catching. On Sixth Street, the theme was “A Nutcracker Christmas”. This home had an expansive open living room looking out large bay windows, where the entire family could get together or do their own things. And sure enough, a nutcracker soldier adorned a wall. The fifth home occupied striking grounds in a building with an equally striking exterior. Inside, each surface – from mantel to table top – was adorned in tastefully arranged classic Christmas decors having modern twists. And at the end of the House Tours, the Shoppe at Laboure was yet another vibrant Christmas sight – all on its own.

In alphabetical order, the generous occupants of the House Tour homes were Barbara Connolly, Tom and Tricia Harnan, the Karpel family, Dom and Jen Lange, and Dave and Lauran Winick. Holiday designers, again in alphabetical order, were Elkus/Manfredi, Embarc Studio, JS Designs-Mt. Ida College, NESAD Alumni, and Suffolk University,

Many thanks, and a Merry Christmas to all of you.