The home of Joey and Stephanie Slate at 171 Stonecroft Road will be on display this year for the Christmas tour of homes.

The Slate home is a traditional-style brick three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home with a bonus room above the garage. The two-story foyer with its open staircase continues past the dining room through to the two-story great room with a balcony overlooking it from the second floor.

Visitors to the home will be greeted by lighted topiaries. As you walk through the foyer, you pass the dining room on the right.

“The first thing people notice about the dining room is its unique faux finish and color. It’s sort of a terra cotta reddish-orange color. It sounds odd, but I love it; I don’t think I’ll ever paint a ‘normal’ color over it,” she said.

The dinning room features a Christmas tree and the room is trimmed in sparkling golds and reds.

The focal point of the living room is the large built-in cherry cabinetry, fireplace and expanse of windows. The wide galley-style kitchen and breakfast area features dark cherry cabinetry, a long, oversized, tile-topped custom-built island and a custom pantry. The couple has decorated a nine-foot Fraser tree in the living room.

The first-floor master suite has a tray ceiling in the master bedroom and an open office space, sitting area adjacent to the bedroom. The children’s bedrooms upstairs share a full bathroom, and the bonus room above the two-car garage serves as a playroom. The playroom will feature a Carolina tree.

She said the house was built as a spec house by Lee Mills Construction. She attended an open house in the summer of 2003, hosted by Lee and Judy Mills, and fell in love with the house and the neighborhood immediately.

This year, the house will be decorated with swags in the windows.

“Joey and I were eight months pregnant with our second child and moving into a new house seemed very daunting at the time. Nonetheless, I drove by there every chance I got, walked around the house and peeked in the windows. Whenever I ran into Judy, I would tell her that the house was jinxed from all prospective buyers until I could buy it. I guess my persistence finally paid off, because a little over a year later we bought the house and moved in right before Christmas on Dec. 13,” she said.

“We scrambled to throw up a Christmas tree and a few simple decorations, mostly for the benefit of the kids, while trying to move into and unpack our belongings. This year will mark our fifth year in the home. We have met so many people who, when we tell them where we live, say, ‘I toured your home during the open house.’ We thought it would be interesting for those same people to come back and see it now that it is lived in and decorated for Christmas.”

The couple has been married for 20 years and have two children, Barrett, 12, and Natalie, 6.

Tickets for the event are $10 and the tour is self-guided. Tickets are available at the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce, at the Gertrude Smith House, by calling Betty Wright at 786-4512, or at the individual’s homes on the days of the tours.

Contact Mondee Tilley at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.