Decorating for Christmas is an established family tradition

— “My favorite time of year is Christmas,” Irene Kelly said, remembering the first year she and Jack were married and living in a townhouse in Memphis, Tenn. She said she considered not decorating for Christmas, but soon realized how important it was and decorated the townhouse. She’s continued to do so for the past 34 years. “I decorated for Jack ... I always used to do this for my baby brother, too.”

The home of Jack and Irene Kelly at 1013 E. Pickens Rd. is a three-bedroom, two- and a halfbath farm house of about 3,000 square feet. It was built in 2003 and the couple moved in just nine days before Christmas. On 47 acres, it occupies the old Hickman farm, Jack said.

“I just wanted a farm house,” Irene said of the design. “I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s and all the houses had stoops. I love a porch face and wanted a porch.

“It was hard to decide where to put it because the guest house has the prettiest view out the back, but we have the best view from the front.”

Standing on the front porch, looking across the green pastures and wooded areas one can see the old water tower in downtown Pea Ridge.

“There was the old dairy barn already here,” Kelly said, and there’s a well down there with spring water below the bluff.

Off the dining room and kitchen area, there is a bay window.

The dining room table belongedto Jake and Matilda Blackburn, grandparents of Jack’s first wife, the daughter of Raymond Blackburn. The Kellys also have an old apple press that belonged to the Blackburn family.

Upstairs on the landing leading to the overlook and two bedrooms and a bath is a desk which belonged to Irene’s grandfather and grandmother sits at the top of the landing up the stairs. Her grandfather bought it for her grandmother at an auction in Eureka Springs. Irene said the family story is that the desk fell of the wagon breaking three legs, which her grandfather then replicated by carving replacements.

“I used to play under it as a little girl,” she said. Over the years,passed down through the family, it was painted and repainted. She had it stripped and refinished to restore it to its original condition.

Jack has an antique buggy bought from the Troy Miller family.

A photograph of Jack Kelly and his father, William Pearl Kelly, both in uniform hangs on the wall in the office.

The driveway winding off East Pickens Road follows a tree line that may follow the route of the old Butterfield stagecoach road, Jack said.

“I have a Christmas village. Jack had this cabinet built for my village,” Irene said. “I decided that whether we were having a party or not, I would always decorate for Christmas. It’s a tradition.”

News, Pages 1 on 11/17/2010