It took George Burr seven years to build his house of granite, which was completed in 1904. See it during the Historic Homes Parlor Tour at 2604 11th St. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins).

By LISA BRITTON

Baker City Herald

Some houses have ghost stories, some have sad stories and one will have andquot;A Christmas Storyandquot; during Saturday’s Historic Homes Parlor Tour.

andquot;We’ll be in character for sure,andquot; said Amy Dunkak.

She and her husband, Darby, are decorating their 1916 bungalow in the post-World War II world of andquot;A Christmas Story,andquot; the holiday saga about a little boy who wants a Red Rider BB gun but meets resistance because he’ll shoot his eye out.

The Dunkak’s decor will include a variety of artifacts from the movie one of those BB guns, bunny slippers, period antiques and an authentic leg lamp.

andquot;Which has real net stockings,andquot; Dunkak said.

They choose this theme, she said, because they have not yet started to restore the house.

andquot;We decided post World War II ‘Christmas Story’ would be great for this year,andquot; she said.

The Dunkak house is one of 11 stops along the 23rd annual Parlor Tour, which is a self-guided trip through some of Baker City’s oldest homes.

Tour hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Maps will be available at tour headquarters in Basche-Sage Place, 2101 Main St.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. Groups of 10 or more pay $10 per person.

Tickets are available at Bella, Betty’s Books, The Sycamore Tree, Baker County Chamber of Commerce, the Historic Baker City office upstairs in Basche-Sage Place, online at www.visitbaker.com, or at tour headquarters on Saturday.

Of the featured homes, several have ghostly residents according to the owners.

andquot;We named him George,andquot; Tina McKim says of the ghost at the granite home of her father, Tom Bootsma.

This house, located at 2604 11th St., is one with a sad history. George Burr, a master stone mason, spent seven years building this castle-like home and hoped that it would be a andquot;grand advertisement of his workmanshipandquot; when the highway came through on 11th Street.

Alas, the highway came down Tenth Street, a block away from Burr’s creation.

The house was sold to A.B. Sullivan in 1918, and Bootsma bought it in 1976 and later added a garage using granite from the same Haines quarry as Burr.

andquot;He knows what they went through to build the house,andquot; McKim said.

She said they will have many photos on display from when the house was being built, and the holiday decorations wil be vintage from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.

Nancy Sheppard also has stories about ghosts who reside at 2419 Main St. but at least they don’t seem concerned with the restoration work.

andquot;They seem to like what we’re doing,andquot; Sheppard said.

She and her husband have spent a busy two months refinishing floors, adding a wall and doing other fix-up projects in this house built in 1900 for Charlotte Eppinger. This is Sheppard’s first bout with restoring a historic home.

andquot;I never have, but always wanted to,andquot; she said.

She will have andquot;beforeandquot; pictures in every room to show the progress.

Any information about the house is welcome because she hasn’t been able to find any original photos of the house, which was remodeled in the 1920s into a colonial style. The original house, she thinks, resembled the one directly to the south that was built by Frederick Eppinger, Charlotte’s son.

Here is the complete list of houses (and their owners) on the tour. Tickets can be presented as a passport at each stop. For more information about the tour, call Ann Mehaffy at HBC, 523-5442.

– 2419 Main St., Nancy Sheppard and Thommy Whitlock

– 1240 Dewey St., Amy and Darby Dunkak

– 1706 Washington Ave., Sally Moser

– 1739 Madison, Diana Valentine

– 2610 Main St., Elisa Seely, Michael Bundy

– 2330 Third St., Sarah LeCompte

– 1340 Dewey St., Todd Sidway (stories are sought about this storybook cottage)

– 2631 Washington Ave., Christine and Evan MacKenzie (stories of this house’s history are welcome)

– 2604 11th St., Tom Bootsma

– 2021 Main St. (YMCA fitness center), Bob and Linda Haynes

– St. Elizabeth Towers, 2365 Fourth St. two units will be open, and this is a hospitality stop for restroom facilities.

Also, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will hold the annual Gingerbread Festival and Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, Dec. 8, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the church, 2177 First St.

This event features complimentary gingerbread and hot cider provided by the women of St. Stephen’s. The bazaar includes a variety of vendors and handmade items.