Holiday Home Tour benefits Watchful Shepherd USA
Camryn Levy, left, and Maddie MacKay at the table in Maddie’s house built from a tree that her grandfather planted half a century ago.
Jennifer MacKay talks about the second home that she’ll have on the Watchful Shepherd’s annual Holiday Home Tour.
The MacKay house in Peters Township’s Sienna Woods plan
The MacKay house, in Peters Township’s Sienna Woods plan.
The MacKay house, in Peters Township’s Sienna Woods plan.
The MacKay house, in Peters Township’s Sienna Woods plan.
The entryway to the MacKay house
The farmhouse on Bower Hill Road where the MacKays used to live is next door to their current home.
The MacKays’ dining room
A vintage toy truck sits atop an antique chest at the MacKay house.
A guest bedroom in the MacKay house
Maddie MacKay’s bedroom.
Santa Claus as portrayed in the room of Ben MacKay, a major winter sports enthusiast.
The table built from a fallen tree in the MacKay home.
An antique tricycle in the MacKay house.
McMURRAY – The Peters Township home of Doug and Jennifer MacKay is a repeat on Watchful Shepherd USA’s Holiday Home Tour.
Well, sort of. Their home as of 2010 was on the tour. Their home as of 2015 is, too.
“We owned an 1848 farmhouse that had a lot of character,” Jennifer said about their former residence on Bower Hill Road. A friend suggested it as a destination for the annual event, “and I said, sure. Whatever we can do to help the Watchful Shepherd, which is a wonderful organization, to try to help raise money.”
They’re doing it again this year, in a house that’s literally a stone’s throw away from where they used to live.
“All this property behind it was vacant, and we saw a lot of home building going on here,” Jennifer said. “This house was just right next door. We could see it out of the kitchen window. And it was a home that my husband and I admired. If we ever built a home, it would be what we would want to build.”
Meanwhile, as much as they loved the farmhouse, it started to run out of room with the additions of sons Alex and Ben, and especially daughter Maddie.
“We decided there wasn’t anywhere for her to go but a drawer,” Jennifer joked. “So it was time to move.”
When the house next door went on the market, that’s exactly what they did. Meanwhile, Jennifer’s parents, Lois and Richard Watkins, were looking for somewhere to move from Hampton Township.
Now they own the farmhouse.
“It took a while before it all came together, but here we are. It’s very enjoyable,” Jennifer said. “My daughter, in fact, if she doesn’t like what I’m having for dinner, she runs through the backyard to see what Grandma has on her table. So it’s kind of fun.”
Speaking of tables, the new MacKay house features one in the dining area off the kitchen that has quite the history.
“This table actually was made from a walnut tree that my father-in-law planted about 50 years ago up at Conneaut Lake at a cottage they have up there. It went down in a storm,” Jennifer explained. “He was a little upset when it went down because he planted it from just a little seedling.”
So Doug MacKay decided to give it new life.
“Every time my father-in-law comes over and sits at this table, he just really enjoys seeing how it ended up,” Jennifer said.
See the MacKay House and other distinctive homes during the tour, which is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25, and proceeds benefit Watchful Shepherd USA, a Peters Township-based nonprofit organization that helps prevent child and family abuse.
For more information, visit www.watchful.org or call 724-941-3339.