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Getting ready for the holidays is an all-consuming project for Connie and Joe Baxter, who start decorating months in advance. Every room in their 3,100-square-foot Rossmoor home is themed and color coded. The living room honors the Grinch, an immense gold reindeer takes over the dining nook, and the family room (nicknamed “the Grand Room” for its baby grand piano) turns into a pastel Sweet Shoppe. Outside is done up in traditional red and green with a huge Christmas tree lighting up the front in the evenings.
The Baxters’ home is one of five featured in this year’s Rossmoor Woman’s Club Holiday Home Tour, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 4. The homes range from a grand, 6,000-square-foot, two-story in Rossmoor to a compact, 1,900-square-foot rancher in the Highlands. They feature amenities including a wine room at one house, a cigar lounge at another, and plenty of luxury fireplaces, pools, barbecues, pizza ovens, home gyms and backyard putting greens. Like the Baxters’, most will be decorated for the holiday season.
Tickets are $25 per person (children under 12 free), which includes the tour plus admission to a tea room offering complimentary coffee and cookies. Tickets for a chance to win one of a variety of raffle baskets and for a mystery wine pull will be on sale, too.
All net proceeds go to fund college scholarships for Los Alamitos High School students and to support local charities including We Care, The Youth Center, Bikers Against Child Abuse, Precious Life Shelter, St. Isidore Community Center, Fix Long Beach, the Long Beach City College Viking Vault for needy students, Bethune Transitional Center for homeless school children and more.
The club had been organizing this annual fundraising event for more than 30 years when it had to be put on hold in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. “I am so happy the Holiday Home Tour is back and we’re able to continue doing things that help the community,” said Home Tour Chair Sue Owen. “I want to thank everyone — club members, home owners, and local businesses — for helping us bring the Holiday Home Tour back.”
Tickets include addresses of all the homes and a map, and they must be shown at each house to gain entry. They may be purchased in advance for $25 from any club member or at one of the businesses listed below. They also may be purchased for $26 online at rossmoorwomansclub.com.
Tickets will also be for sale the day of the tour at the tea room, in the garden behind Flags With a Flair at the Arbor Village restaurant and shopping complex, 10651 Los Alamitos Blvd. Tea room parking will be available in the Southland Credit Union and Fairfield by Marriott Hotel lots. (Note: tickets purchased online must be picked up the day of the tour at the tea room; they will not be mailed.)
Please note that these are private homes and are not suitable for strollers, wheelchairs or walkers. High heels are not allowed.
Merchants selling tickets are:
- Antica Olive Oil, Vinegars and Spices, 11110 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos
- Brita’s Old Town Gardens, 225 Main St. A, Seal Beach
- Cinnamon Stik, 10641 Los Alamitos Blvd, Los Alamitos
- Green Street Interiors, 10660 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos
- McNally Electric & Lighting, 10792 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos
- Prep Kitchen Essentials, The Shops at Rossmoor, 12207 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach
The Rossmoor Woman’s Club is a non-profit social and philanthropic organization affiliated with the international General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Although it was founded in Rossmoor in 1958, members don’t have to live in Rossmoor.
