Beloved Houston Holiday Home Tour Readies For a Grand Finale With a Rare Inside Look at Fabulous Tanglewood Homes
The Kappa Kappa Gamma Charitable Foundation Says Goodbye to a Tradition
BY Shelby Hodge // 12.02.24
Caroline Harper Knapp examines the decor in her home for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Charitable Foundation 'Holiday Pilgrimage' (Photo by Chris Bailey Photography)
Since 1941, the Kappa Kappa Gamma Charitable Foundation has invited Houstonians into some of the city’s most elegant homes dressed in elaborate holiday decor in a biennial fundraising effort. This weekend marks the final Holiday Pilgrimage as the social and service fraternity will pivot to different more lucrative charitable fundraising.
Of the four Tanglewood residences to be featured, PaperCity was given a preview of the home of talented designer/blogger Caroline Harper Knapp, who collaborated with Taryn Proler of The Texas Poppy Co. to create a lavish, and at the same time charming, holiday ambience. (Knapp’s home dressed to the holiday hilt was featured in Southern Living in 2022, the article updated in the October issue.)
With the handiwork of additional florists Cammy Johnson of CJ Designs and Brett Chisholm of Three Dudes Farm, the four homes provide visual indulgence as well as creative decorating ideas.
“The 2024 Pilgrimage Home Tour is bittersweet, as this will be our swan song after 83 years of showcasing some of Houston’s most beautiful homes decorated for the holidays, while raising money for worthy charities,” Holiday Pilgrimage co-chair Laurie Vander Ploeg says. “Houstonians have always been extremely supportive of our biennial event, and we’re hoping this year draws the biggest crowd to date.”
The tour will take place this Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7 from 10 am to 4 pm. Advance tickets cost $20 and are available here. At the door, tickets will be $25.
Holiday Tour Homes
— 6210 Valley Forge Drive
SHOP
— 6220 Valley Forge Drive
— 5616 Sugar Hill drive
— 5658 Bordley Drive
At 5616 Sugar Hill, Leslie Sinclair, owner of Segreto Finishes and a Kappa alumna, will be selling her new book Beauty That Endures, with 15 percent of proceeds from sales during the Holiday Pilgrimage going to support the foundation.
Explaining the change in direction for fundraising, Kappa Kappa Gamma Charitable Foundation of Houston president Hope Huber notes that based on input from membership focus groups, membership surveys and alumnae leaders, the foundation determined that a new fundraising model would better serve the alumnae and maximize the philanthropic impact in the Houston community.
The foundation will continue its Holiday Luncheon in 2025 and launch a new event in 2026 modeled after the highly successful Tablescapes events presented by the Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth alumnae groups.
The final Holiday Pilgrimage is chaired by three Kappa mothers and daughters: Debbie Jones and Sarah Jones Lane, Laurie Vander Ploeg and Becky Vander Ploeg Austin, and Lynn West and Elizabeth West.
_md.jpeg)
_md.jpeg)
