Labouré Center Christmas tour marks 21st year

The first weekend in December is one of South Boston’s favorite holiday traditions, when the Labouré Center holds its annual Christmas house tour. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the popular event, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 3, and Sunday, Dec. 4.

“The house tour is a great way for people to see the variety and grand architecture of South Boston homes,” said Sr. Maryadele Robinson, director of the Labouré Center, a community service center of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston.

“It also creates a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together to help support our programs. For many this has become a tradition to begin the holiday season,” she said.

The tour benefits the Labouré Center, which provides after-school programs for youths, family, individual and group counseling, emergency assistance, visiting nurse services and community outreach to more than 3,000 people in South Boston and surrounding communities.

Next weekend, after the Thanksgiving feasts have passed, the homeowners of four exquisite residences will be busily decorating for the holidays and for the tour.

At the crest of the hill on East Broadway, close to the Medal of Honor or M Street Park, is one of the featured homes. It is known as the Joaquim Souther House, a grand four-story row house built in 1868 in the Second Empire style.

The single-family brownstone features a double parlor, 10-foot-tall windows and beautiful moldings and banisters. The first floor kitchen has been renovated, and the second floor features a double parlor with magnificent fireplaces with beautiful mirrors. The bedrooms on the third and fourth floors are lovely.

Two other featured properties are neighbors on Telegraph Hill leading up to the historic Dorchester Heights Monument and lie within the National Historic District.

Both of these homes were constructed at the same time as the Souther House in 1868, according to the Massachusetts Historic Commission.

The brick row house at 72 G St. has remained a single-family home and represents an Eastlake Second Empire style with bay windows. It was renovated in 2003 and boasts modern amenities along with historic architectural details, such has paneled wainscoting and triple crown molding.

Oak and cherry hardwood floors abound, and the open kitchen boasts cherry cabinetry and granite counters. The master bedroom has a sumptuous bath with a Jacuzzi and steam shower, and the top floor home office includes an antique Macey oak barrister bookcase.

The Second Empire style rowhouse at 68 G St., described as Victorian eclectic, was converted to two condominiums a year ago, and one of them, Unit 2, will be open for the tour. Its entry has classic double doors, original to the home, were restored, as were the marble fireplace, banisters and doors.

The home has 12-foot-high ceilings, crown molding and oak flooring, but the kitchen is new – stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and tall cherry cabinets that match a cherry-topped bar in the living room. Best of all is the new roof deck with views of the John F. Kennedy Museum and Boston skyline.

The fourth home is much younger, built in the 1920s, but the present owner extensively updated in 1990. The building has a recessed entry with double glass doors and a three-window bay; the first story is brick, and the upper floors are clapboard with accents of plum, sage and cream.

The chef’s kitchen is spacious, with a central cooking island accompanied by granite counters and dark cherry cabinets. In the living room is a three-sided glass fireplace that generates lots of warmth.

The Saturday twilight tour begins at 4 p.m. will take tour-goers from the UMass/Boston Campus Center, 100 Morrissey Blvd., to the houses, which will be open until 6 p.m. Self-guided tours also will be available.

A cocktail reception will be held after this tour from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Terrace Room of the Campus Center. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased through the website www.ccab.org or by phone at 617-268-9670.

The Sunday daytime tour, which runs from noon to 4 p.m., will depart from the Labouré Center, 275 West Broadway, or from Castle Island, where there is ample parking, and an Old Town Trolley will transport participants to these featured homes. (Parking is limited at the center.) Coffee, tea and baked goods will be available at the center to enjoy during the tour.

Tickets for the Sunday tour are $25 in advance or $30 at the door and can be purchased at the center or online at www.ccab.org or by calling 617-268-9670. The tickets provide entry to all the homes, and the tour book will be available at all sites.

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