"Christmas Around the Mansion" neighborhood tour December 14 in Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON - It's not often you get to peek inside your neighbor's home. On Sunday, December 14, you'll get the chance to peek inside several during the "Christmas Around the Mansion" tour of Davis-Jefferson Neighborhood Homes in Bloomington.

The 1 to 5 p.m. holiday tour will feature homes from 1870 to 1970, covering styles ranging from Victorian to modern. The Davis-Jefferson Neighborhood Association, which promotes its proximity to the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, will use the funds raised from the tour to landscape Davis Avenue, the formal street entrance to the Mansion. The landscape designs by Greenview Nursery may be viewed at www.djna.org.

Advance tickets may be purchased for $10 each at First Edition, 816 E. Washington in Bloomington; or The Garlic Press, 108 W. North Street in Normal. Tickets may also be purchased the day of the tour at the David Davis Mansion State Historic Site Visitor Center.

The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site, built in the 1870s for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Davis and his wife, Sarah, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The site will be closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The Mansion is located at 1000 E. Monroe in Bloomington and is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.