For the curious, a holiday glimpse inside four Palos Verdes Peninsula homes.

Janet Fogle recalls that when she and her late husband were building their four-level house on a sloping lot just above Palos Verdes Drive East, a lot of people watched it go up.

“It was so visible,” she said, “but very few people have seen the inside.”

After Saturday, Fogle won’t be able to say that anymore. By the end of the day, several hundred people will have walked through her house, admiring the crystal, Oriental art and exotic musical instruments, and ogling the spectacular view of Los Angeles Harbor.

The contemporary-style house of wood and glass is one of four Palos Verdes Peninsula residences that will welcome visitors today and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as part of the Yule Parlor Parade home tour, which usually draws more than 2,000 people. The annual glimpse of home life on the posh peninsula has been sponsored for 34 years by The Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes Estates.

“People are curious about some of these big homes up here,” said Nicky Stevens, co-chairman of the tour. “There are some very interesting houses architecturally, and people want to see the interior decorating that has been done. They can always pick up a few ideas.”

But unlike other peninsula home tours that thrive on the same curiosity, the Yule Parlor Parade celebrates the holiday season. Homes have lavishly decorated trees, and each is set up as if people were about to arrive for a holiday party.

Fogle will set her table for Christmas dinner, with crystal and sterling silver, and also will display a less formal buffet. “It will be like Christmas in my own house, but just a little early,” she said.

In selecting homes for the tour, the church looks for a mix of architecture and sizes as well as varied locations, according to Ruberta Weaver, the tour co-chairman who is in charge of finding houses.

“They don’t all have to be palaces,” she said. Interesting contents, whether antiques, art, a collection of musical instruments or crafts, are also factors in the selection.

The Fogle house, built in the Miraleste section of Rancho Palos Verdes, shares the contemporary design category in this year’s tour with another Miraleste home owned by Ken and Suzi Wolcott.

Completing the tour are two houses near the church: a hillside Dutch colonial owned by Palos Verdes Estates City Councilwoman Rosemary Humphrey and her husband, David, and the ocean-view English Tudor home of Lorraine and Kurt Pickus.

A huge bay window, vaulted ceiling and living-room skylight characterize the Wolcott home, whose Japanese architect used an elaborate concrete foundation to take advantage of what was seemingly an unbuildable lot. From a distance, the home appears to have been sculpted into the steep hillside. It has a sweeping view of the Pacific, Santa Catalina Island and the harbor.

The house descends 2 1/2 stories to a water cascade and koi pond more than 30 feet below. The Christmas tree has been decorated with Japanese fans. During the tour, music will be played on the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument.

The Humphreys’ Dutch Colonial features hand-carved moldings and antique furnishings, including an 1860 rosewood square grand piano. The English-style library has cherry woodwork and a black marble fireplace. Weaver said remodeling has been under way at the house for two years. “They’re still working and hope to be finished” before the tour, she said.

A variety of collections and special holiday decorations add warmth to the Pickus home. Lorraine Pickus “has decorated more than anyone I know for Christmas,” Weaver said.

Visitors will find several statues of Father Christmas and Santa Claus, an antique music box that plays large copper discs, 15-inch-high dolls depicting Charles Dickens characters, and a dollhouse with its own Christmas trees. Even the laundry room has toy mice in little houses--also decorated for Christmas.

The Neighborhood Church--an ocean-view Italian villa that was once a private home itself--also welcomes visitors during the tour’s festivities. Tea and coffee from silver pots, finger sandwiches and cookies will be served, and there will be entertainment by handbell players, instrumentalists and a youth choir. People also will be able to buy baked goods, homemade jelly and pickles and crafts made by church women.

Tickets for the self-guided tour are available both days for $15 at the church, 415 Paseo del Mar. The event raises money for a variety of South Bay charities supported by the church.

A project of the Women’s Fellowship, the Yule Parlor Parade involves hundreds of church volunteers who pitch in to decorate the church with greenery and a huge trees, make crafts for the Yule Shop and turn out the 25,000 finger sandwiches needed for the tea. Others become experts on the homes in order to serve as hostesses. Men in the church direct traffic, which can become congested.

“We like to feel we usher in the holidays with this parade,” said Betty Cooper, who has done a variety of jobs with the tour over the years. “If people aren’t already in the holiday spirit, they get into it very fast.”

What: Yule Parlor Parade.

When: Friday, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where: The Neighborhood Church, 415 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates; Palos Verdes Peninsula homes.

Admission: $15.

Information: 378-9353.