Homes for the holidays
History is a major part of the Crescenta Valley High School Prom Plus annual Holiday Tour of Homes on Saturday.
Proceeds support the after-prom party in which participants have myriad activities to share with their classmates, including casino games, a mechanical bull ride, tattoo artists, a magician and palm reader, said Lisa Yeghiayan, a representative of the group organizing the event.
The four historical properties on this year’s tour are a home owned by Flintridge House interior design business owner James Davis Polk; the newly named Fire House teen center, which once housed the La Crescenta Fire Station; the Richards home; and the Doll home.
The Doll home is owned by Crescenta Valley High Principal Michele Doll and her husband, Bart. It’s the first time a principal has offered a home on the tour, Yeghiayan said.
“One of the most historical homes would be the Doll home,” Yeghiayan said. “It’s been in the family for 70 years and the grandmother, who is 96, bought the home in the 1940s with her husband who was a Glendale doctor.
“He was also an artist and his paintings are still on the walls of the home. The library is still as he left it, with all of his books, including notations in them.”
The Dolls have done some remodeling inside, but have kept the classic Colonial style intact throughout, Doll said.
“All of the artwork, watercolors and oil paintings, were painted by my husband’s grandfather Dr. William Nethery,” Doll said. “He was a local doctor in Glendale for many years.”
Doll believes it’s an honor to share the family’s home with the community, she said.
“This event raises money that will go to our after-prom party and will help our students and families,” Doll said. “I also think it’s an honor to showcase my husband’s grandparents’ home since they were an integral part of the community for so many years.”
For the Richards’ home, the family puts up a holiday light display choreographed to music.
“Every single detail in the home is absolutely spectacular,” Yeghiayan said. “The home is totally remodeled. It’s 2,900 square feet and it was a 1950s two-room house. They’ve pored over books and magazines and done extensive research in detailing the inlays and stained glass windows throughout the home. It’s just beautiful inside.”
The tour is just one of the fundraisers that support Prom Plus, an effort that began after a student was killed at a private post-prom party.
“Our community’s tragic loss of Berlyn Cosman in 1991 was a wake-up call,” Yeghiayan said. “Our parents worked through their grief and took action. For years we have heard our young people say that there is nothing to do up here in the foothills, so the CV parents filled that void by creating Prom Plus on one of the most dangerous nights of a student’s life — prom night.”
The Prom Plus Home Tour, Taste of Montrose and school barbecues are all necessary to raise the $20,000 for the after-prom party, she said. The committee’s motto is “to save lives, one prom at a time.”
“The CV Home Tour has really become a holiday tradition for many of the families in our community,” Yeghiayan said. “It’s the way they start out their holiday season. And not only do they have the opportunity to view homes that are beautifully decorated, but they are supporting our mission to keep our students drug and alcohol free, as well as supporting our efforts to create a wonderful Prom Plus event in May.”
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Infobox
What: Prom Plus Annual Holiday Tour of Homes
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Addresses on website
Tickets: $25. They are available at the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce, Merle Norman Cosmetics in Montrose, the UPS Stores in Montrose and La Crescenta and Crescenta Valley High School.
Contact: (818) 248-2740 or (818) 314-9810 or visit https://www.cvhsfalcons.com/promplus