This year’s tour promises to offer an intimate glimpse into the uniquely styled homes that showcase both tradition and creativity. Guests will have the opportunity to meet homeowners, learn about the history behind each property, and gather inspiration for their own spaces. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased in advance or on the day of the event, October 4th, at Market Square and just a reminder the proceeds go to scholarships for our graduating Mason seniors that are college or trade school bound.
Sherie’s 1940 house on the hill has more than doubled in size since it was built by her parents Marguerite and Chester Keller and has undergone much renovation, especially after the roof blew off in 1980. Since 2018, Sherie laughs and says we’ve been ‘adding on and adding on.” Yes, she’s been busy remodeling and adding on with the help of Lee Butcher, who is actually just now finishing up a brand new one bedroom apartment behind the garage.
Anne Ahlschwede bought her 1930 Western Bungalow fully renovated in 2014. The previous owner Amelia Banner Zesch had modernized and opened up the kitchen-dining room area by removing walls and enclosing the back porch into the house as a laundry room. The Zesch’s retiled and updated the bathroom and re-stained the wooden floors giving ‘new life’ to their home. The windows and fireplace are original, as are the charming period built-ins: a telephone niche (with phone) in the hallway, and two triangular wooden hutches in the dining room The ‘infamous’ murder that occurred in the house has been the talk of Mason since 1937 and still is today. The story goes: on July 15 of 1937, Leonard and his cousin William Wood of Brady, were playing cards in the kitchen, and according to relatives were both drunk. Leonard blasted his cousin with a 30-30 rifle, naturally killing him literally ‘on the spot.’ The mystery abounds even today because when Leonard was arrested his only statement was, “I had to do it.” For reason unknown he was never prosecuted, and the bullet holes were part of the décor until the kitchen was renovated.
