The new Granite Street home of Lithia Motors executive Sid DeBoer will be the star attraction of Ashland's 11th annual holiday home tour today.
Modeled after the famous Greene and Greene Arts & Craft style of the 1920s, the 7,000-square-foot home at 99 Granite will be on a tour that includes the Ashland Mountain House on old Highway 99 (the oldest building in Southern Oregon) and two bed-and-breakfast homes, among others.
The DeBoer home was subject of a public brouhaha over big-footprint homes in the city's core and was the last large home approved before the city banned homes over 3,500 square feet in the town's four historic districts.
The home has reddish eucalyptus flooring, a great room that flows to the kitchen, dining room and study on the main floor, with several bedrooms and entertainment rooms upstairs. A wine cellar and theater with leather seats highlight the basement. It has a rock-lined pool and hot tub in the back yard. It is fully handicap accessible, including an elevator.
The house, built on a double lot, was put up for sale after being completed, said DeBoer, because the family obtained long-sought permission to build on Vista Street — and will live there.
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Its façade features signature Craftsman pyramidal columns of brick, with the upper story in hand-dipped green shakes, and exposed beams and copper gutters. All built-in shelves, kitchen island and benches feature the parallel trim lines typical of Craftsman — a style intended to showcase the skills of the last generation of home builders before power tools and prefab parts.
The Mountain House, now a bed and breakfast, was built in 1852 by Ashland pioneers and served in its first decade as the initial sign of civilization for wagon trains coming into the valley.
The tour, put on by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce and the Ashland American Association of University Women, will also take visitors inside Country Willows Bed & Breakfast and Lithia Springs Resort and Gardens. About 450 people took the tour last year.
A historic 1896 farm house in the Craftsman style, located at the top of Clay Street, Country Willows has changed into a modern bed and breakfast with pool, Jacuzzi and gardened grounds.
The Lithia Springs, 2165 W. Jackson Road, was built 12 years ago. Three of its 25 rooms will be available for viewing.
John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.
The Ashland Holiday Home tour runs from noon to 5 p.m. today. Tickets ($15 each) are available at the Ashland Chamber, 110 E. Main St., which opens at 11 a.m. Docents or homeowners will be available at each location to guide participants around the house and explain the history and present use.