Couple in mad dash to spiff up 334 North Marshall in time for showcase event

It’s a real feather in the cap of a Marshall historic home owner to be asked to showcase the house for home tour.
But when Lorrie Hicks got a tip that they would be asked to put their 1917, four square house on the 44^th annual Marshall Historical Society Home Tour Sept. 8 & 9, she begged her husband Shawn to say “no.”
“When we were asked to be on, I thought, ‘absolutely there’s no way, we can’t get this stuff done,” said Shawn.
Knowing that he still had cabinet doors to build, drapes to order, a ceiling to replace, a baby grand piano to restore, a runner to replace and crown molding to install, Shawn was tempted and Lorrie knew it.
“I said, ‘please don’t, Shawn, please don’t,’” Lorrie said.
But having volunteered with Lorrie every year at home tour the past five years and longing for his own home to join the parade, he simply couldn’t resist.
“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he said, “since we bought the home and saw that it was on tour before. It had so much potential. When we moved in, it was more of a modern décor. It wasn’t what it could be, what it should be. It wasn’t a ‘20s four-square home so as we’ve been putting it back, I thought, ‘this was the opportunity, they might not ask us again.’”
Since then, it’s been a mad rush that will continue right up until Friday when the London Lace drapery shop in Boston said their Scotland laced drapes are expected to be installed.
“They’re bringing the runner on Monday,” added Lorrie about the floor covering for the staircase. “They had to come, measure, and got it sent out to be bound.”
Home Tour Co-Chair Lois Zuehlke said its not unusual for homeowners to be caught up in a frenzy of last minute preparations in the week leading up to the two-day event when thousands of people from all over the country funnel through every home, museum, business and church featured at the event called by Michigan Living Magazine the best in the state.
“There’s nothing that lights a fire under you like a deadline and this is a deadline with a capital ‘D’,” said Shawn.

Their home is one of 16 locations on the tour. See the link for the Marshall Historical Society for more on this nationally recognized by event, featured in various magazines and The New York Times.