A Wonderful House: Tour of Homes at Chateau Elan
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; shuttle departs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day
How much: $25; $10 for designer showhouse, open Nov. 28-30
BUFORD - The movie "It's a Wonderful Life" focuses on helping others and making a difference.
This is the inspiration for the annual A Wonderful House tour of homes this weekend at Chateau Elan.
The event is also a fundraiser for the Gwinnett Children's Shelter, which offers children who are abused, neglected or abandoned by their families a safe place to go for help.
Founded 21 years ago, gethe nonprofit organization helps between 300 and 500 children and their families across North Georgia every year.
"The name of the tour is a take off of the movie, ‘It's A Wonderful Life,'" said Lynn Price, the tour's general chairwoman. "And that movie is about helping people (and) making a difference in people's lives."
Each year the tour attracts about 2,500 people and raises about $100,000 for the shelter. The seventh annual event will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
"It provides all that additional support," said Nancy Friauf, the shelter's executive director. "Instead of just being a place for kids to eat and sleep, we're really a place where kids get the comprehensive care that they need to really start healing and really start making progress."
This year the Tour of Homes takes participants on a guided journey through three houses decorated for the holidays.
Participants first tour two private homes and then stop at the Corner Shoppe and Silver Sleigh Café for some holiday shopping and a snack.
The tour's final home, dubbed the "Designer Showhouse," is an addition this year.
The home's decorations are the result of several area designers who traveled from Hoschton and even Atlanta to give the house a piece of their artistic flair.
"Different designers come in and take different rooms in the house," Price said. "Each room is decorated by a different designer."
While the first two houses are open just this weekend, the Designer Showhouse will be open next weekend as well, and people can tour the home for $10.
Friauf said the shelter's children benefit from the community's support through events such as Chateau Elan's Tour of Homes.
"That level of support and commitment from our community is just incredible," she said. "It means a lot to our kids. They come from families where they may have been told they were worthless and rejected and that they're not wanted.
"Well, here's a community that's saying, ‘Oh no, we really care about you. You're really important.'"