Historical December 1983 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
The 1982 Christmas Walk and House Tour drew approximately two thousand people, and when you have a success such as that, why not repeat it?
This year’s walk will be held on Dec. 11 from 2 to 5 p.m.; and is sponsored by Neighborhood Marketing Services, Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council, and Rosedale Neighbors.
As with last year’s tour, the walk is based around Neighborhood Marketing’s “Houses of the Month” selection which is Bill Keslar and Sandy Baker’s house at 6185 Kingsbury.
The Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood is comprised of a variety of architectural styles ranging from late Victorian residences to Arts & Crafts bungalows, from handsome flats with projecting porches to classically inspired duplexes.
The 1983 Christmas Walk will feature nine dwellings which represent the building types and styles which prevailed during the development of the area between 1907 and the late teens.
The single-family houses range from 6185 Kingsbury in a near-original, late Victorian condition to the building at 6016 Washington which represents the imaginative remodeling of a simple duplex dating from 1921.
Two of the buildings on the tour display the high quality of multi-family design which is prominent in similar structures throughout Skinker-DeBaliviere. Decorated for the holidays, these buildings help show off the many possibilities for housing within the neighborhood.
The first floors of these homes will be on view:
- 5927 Waterman
- 311 Rosedale
- 6170 Kingsbury
- 6185 Kingsbury
- 6107 Westminster
- 6137 Westminster
- 6016 Washington
- 6036 Washington
- 6152 Washington
The Gothic Revival St. Roch’s Church and School at the corner of Rosedale and Waterman will also be open so that neighbors and visitors alike can experience one of the neighborhood’s landmarks as well as visit these institutions so valuable to the area.
The Walk will begin at the Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council, 6008 Kingsbury, where maps of the tour, information on the neighborhood, and coffee and Christmas cookies will be available.
The Council will also have “Images of a City Neighborhood” calendars for sale at $4 each. Come and help show off Skinker-DeBaliviere.
If you would like to volunteer your home, there is still time, and owners who have their houses for sale are welcome to be on the tour. Call Katie Kurtz, 727-6377, or the SDCC, 862-5122, for information and to get your house on the tour map. Be a part in making this a festive occasion; place a wreath on your door, take the Christmas Walk, and enjoy your neighborhood — it is a great place to live.
Original photograph caption
Christmas Walk cover photograph, The Paper, December 1983, page 1. No individual credit printed beside the cover photograph; the house-tour spread credits King Schoenfeld collectively.
Originally published in The Paper, December 1983.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: The article’s date range mentions the late teens but separately dates a duplex to 1921; both source statements retained. Individual house dates, ownership and renovation claims are historical descriptions from the source, not current property records.
Original source: SD_Times1983_12.pdf, printed page(s) 1, 5, 6, 7, 8; PDF page(s) 1, 5, 6, 7, 8.
