Lee Warner. from left, Larry Prentice, and Bruce Cox entertain guest at the Krebs-Peterson home in Carson during the Victorian Home & Garden tour Sunday afternoon. A cardboard replica of John Wayne looks over the Bruce Cox Trio from the room named after the Western legend.
Dorothy Dolan sat in lace shoes on the porch of the Krebs-Peterson house during the "Through the Garden Gate" Victorian garden, home and quilt tour Sunday.
"Make sure on your way out you stop and get a refreshment," she said to visitors while checking their tickets.
Martha Wehmeyer from San Diego stooped to shake Dolan's hand.
"I'm so thankful because I just love these old houses," she said. "They are fantastic -- truly magnificent."
Wehmeyer and her husband, Dick, are traveling the West in a motor home. They read about the tour in the newspaper.
The Krebs-Peterson home, a few doors south of the Governor's Mansion on Mountain Street, was a popular stop on the tour.
Owner Bob McFadden has filled it with eccentric collections and art -- including an original Picasso and a Warhol.
One room has a John Wayne theme -- a nod to the fact the home was included in Wayne's last movie, "The Shootist."
On the front porch, Bruce Cox played jazz standards on his saxophone with Lee Warner on drums and Larry Prentiss on the keyboards. The trio wore black tuxedos.
Golden retrievers Dusty and Patty milled around socializing with guests and napping.
The tour is a fund-raiser for the Carson City Historical Society. Funds go straight to the society, said Dolan, a former president of the group. Much of the money goes toward restoring the J.D. Roberts House, a museum owned by the city. Some will also pay for the group's newsletter.
"We put a lot into it, but it takes quite a lot," she said. She expected to raise about $2,000, she said.
The event is quite popular, said the historical society's current president, Dolan's daughter Sue Ballew.
"She was getting phone calls last night every two minutes," Ballew said of her mother.
"And they started calling this morning at 8:30 a.m.," added Dolan.
The tour had 11 stops, including four homes along W. Robinson Street, the Olcovich-Meyers House on West King Street and the Wungnema House at Mills Park. At the park, a gardener from the Greenhouse Garden Center gave a demonstration on how to conserve water.
Quilts from Linda Spivack's Cloth Cottage were on display at several stops and sold at the Wungnema House, said employee Leslie Richards.
At the Roberts House, the first stop on the tour, Chuck and Jo Saulisberry sold tickets. Paula Cannon explained how James Doane Roberts had fought in the Indian Wars at Pyramid Lake and how the home was brought to town on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
The Carson City Historical Society's next home tour is Dec. 14.
"It's called the Victorian Christmas Tour, and I'm already making plans for it," said Dolan.
On the Net
www.cchistorical.org