By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

The Columbiana Christmas Tour of Homes, A Southern Experience, is Saturday, Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. sponsored by the Columbiana Beautification Board.

Five homes and two businesses will be opened complete with holiday decorations. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the tour. They can be purchased at Busy Hands, Dr. Stancil Handley’s office and Dale’s Beauty Salon in Columbiana.

Featured businesses are Color Outside the Lines owned by Trina Stogner, 101 South Main Street, and Owens House, 22747 Highway 25. Features homes are: Shelby County Commissioner Corley and Julie Ellis, 315 Thompson Street; Bruce and Lois Cooper, 405 East College Street; Keith and Angela Lawler, 1024 Alston Farm Road; Jason and Jennifer Wood, 907 Highway 5; and Sterling Castle, Victor and Misty Binkerd, 389 Deseret Drive.

The Ellis home, called the Thompson/Turner home, is on the tour for the third and last time. It is named for the original and later owners, W.A. Thompson and J. B. Turner. The house sits on one-and-a-half acres on Thompson Street, which is named for the first builder.

“I wanted to live in town and love historic homes,” Julie said. “Corley and I wanted to keep the character of the house, especially the center dog trot. After we bought the house, we put it “as is” on the tour in December 2010.”

“The second time on the tour was December 2011 mid-construction,” Corley said. “We kept the original footprint and floors of the house. We tore out the walls of three small rooms and made a large den off the kitchen.”

“Corley did a lot of the demolition himself,” Julie said. “ He got very sick from fungal pneumonia and stepped on a nail, not once but twice!”
Corley, Julie and Jemison, their then two-month-old baby, moved into their home March 2012. Written on the walls by the previous owner were these words, “Everything starts with a dream. And dreams come true.”
Corley and Julie Ellis had a dream to bring life back to the Thompson/Turner home. Come see their dream come true on the Tour of Homes.