If Christmas is a time for sharing, one couple in Stockton has taken that phrase quite literally. During an annual open house held the first weekend in December, Paul and Kathy Bowden welcomed around 450 people into their home—approximately 200 friends, family members and public guests on Saturday and about 250 guests on Sunday during the Baldwin County Historic Society’s Tour of Homes.

The house—located on Hodgson Road—was decorated for Christmas with around 200 village houses, 30 animated characters, six Christmas trees and numerous lights and trimmings inside and out including a Santa Claus peeping from the chimney, Kathy said.

To put detailed decorations in each room and outside, Kathy and her family started decorating in September, she said.

Kathy’s son, Shane, decorated the outside and her sister, Patti Rowland, helped decorate the home almost everyday for the past few months. Other family members helped on weekends and days off. Rowland agreed that many hours were spent filling the house with Christmas.

“Almost every week we (Rowland and Kathy) worked seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” she said. “We spent hundreds of hours.

“It was fun, but it was a lot of work.”

Rowland said she was amazed at her sister’s dedication to the task.

“She often worked from 5 or 6 a.m. till 11 p.m. I’d come back the next morning, and she would have more done,” she said. “Sometimes I’d call her at night, and she’d be at Wal-Mart getting more extension cords. she worked like a Trojan.”

Rowland said that details are Kathy’s talent.

“She’s so gifted like that. I don’t have the patience,” she said. “She can stand in front of one village for hours to make sure the right person is in front of the shoe shop. She’s very creative like that. She just went back and did so much stuff that I never thought of.”

“We spent about $10,000 on new decorations this year,” Paul said. “With all the stuff she’s collected over the years, it probably totals about $25,000.”

And decorations weren’t the only expense. The Bowden’s have remodeled the home during the past year — to the tune of $150,000.

They were sure to keep the changes within historic society regulations. This is the second remodel since they bought the house in 1987 and included the addition of an upstairs master suite, a commercial kitchen, a gathering area and screening in the back porch, according to Paul.

But, most family members agreed that it is not work for Kathy saying she just loves the holidays.

“She’s always done more for Christmas than most people,” Paul said of his observations during their 44 years of marriage.

Rowland agreed.

“She’s always been obsessed with Christmas,” she said.

Kathy said in addition to her soft spot for the holiday season, she enjoyed the sharing her historic home with others. In fact, the first open house was held in 1996 when the home had it’s 100th anniversary.

“I like to see the old homes restored to their former glory,” she said. “To me, it’s more special than a new home.”

Rowland said the celebration may have started the open house, but it didn’t stop there.

“I think she started out doing this for the 100th anniversary and then it just kind of got to be a tradition,” she said.

Kathy says she continues to hold the open house more for others than herself.

“Christmas is the season that everyone gets caught up in,” she said. “People will actually come out and see the decorations. If you share your joy and excitement with people, it can help them get over their depression.

“It’s a very stressful time of year, and some people don’t have decorations at their house.

“I enjoy sharing the season with other people. I have more fun watching the people walk in  and seeing the excitement and the children see the tree and their eyes get big.

 “People say, ‘thank you so much for sharing your home with me.’”