Chocolate House a sweet treat on Tour of Homes

"Even though I probably lost close to 60 percent of my Christmas items," she admitted. "And it was really tough to go through the decorations one by one, because I had been collecting them for years."

The fire department was called to  J&L Enterprises -- the Wockenfuss' business -- at 219 W. Seventh St., where a fire started on the west side of the three-story brick building in the early morning of Sept. 28, 2010.

"I was storing the decorations on the second floor," Wockenfuss explained. "They were Mercury glass decorations and they either exploded or were blackened by the heat of the fire."

Many were pitched, but Wockenfuss even held on to some of the damaged ones.

"I wanted to keep my Mercury glass tree so it was important to me to save as many a possible," she noted. "I just put the ones with the black parts on the back of the tree."

Among the homes on display for the tour will be Sioux City's famous "Chocolate House," the three-story structure owned by Deborah and her husband John.

The house, located at 2900 Jackson St., was built during the city's most prosperous times: the 1890s. The Wockenfusses have restored the home with the candy-moniker, which is also referenced as the Palmer because the occupants who lived in the residence the longest were members of the Palmer family of Palmer Candy Company fame.

"We moved here from Sioux Falls, where there isn't as much old architecture, to Sioux City, which has so much old architecture left," Deb Wockenfuss explained. "I don't think the people of Sioux City know what they have here in architecture. I can't get enough of it."

The Palmer Mansion is listed on the National Historic Registry as the Mylius/Eaton House. The Shavian Queen Anne home, an architectural rarity built in 1894, features zinc bull's-eye glass windows, 8 1/2-foot-tall doors -- one with a split door to let air in -- and many different types of wood including quarter-sawn oak, bird's eye maple, mahogany and walnut. The house has five-plus bedrooms, six bathrooms, a library, a drawing room, a formal dining room, a breakfast room, a master bedroom wing and a ballroom.

Deb Wockenfuss, possibly more creative than Santa's helpers, has started the decorating process. The dining room was awash in a sea of shades of red, with crystal that were given to her grandparents on their 25th wedding anniversary and her own Old Country Roses China.

"The last time the house was on the tour, I positioned an upside down traditional Victorian tree to hang over the dining room table," she confided. "This time, I decided to go with the sheer draping to add another effect."

At the end of the room, two 3-foot tall Santas keep a watch over the fruit centerpieces.

"I wanted very much to keep this presentation very Victorian," Deb explained. "That means the fruit on the table is not fake. It would have been real as part of the opulence."

Wockenfuss pays homage to Palmer Candy, but with a different flavor from the Bing tree from last time.

"I have a mocha tree, in which all of the ornaments and decorations are brown," she said. "Of course, it's to honor the chocolate aspect of the company."

The Wockenfusses have decorated their home with antiques and reproduction pieces from the period. The only original light fixture to the house is in the library, which Wockenfuss noted has its own unusual story.

"This house was the first to have air conditioning, but not in the library," she said. "Men would smoke their cigars in here while the women were elsewhere."

To plug into the masculine look to the library, Wockenfuss has a pheasant-themed Christmas tree.

"The skirt is pheasant backs and pheasants adorn the top of the tree," she said. "Then, I've added red cardinals and blue-jays as accents."

Displayed on either side of the not-so-cheep tree are two striking porcelain Nativity sets.

"I wouldn't be without them," Wockenfuss insisted. "They remind me of what the season is all about."

With the loss of many of the Mercury glass ornaments, Wockenfuss decided to incorporate a softer look on what traditionally had been the tree for that presentation.

"I got some soft, plush figures at Sam's Club and incorporated them around the other decorations," she said. "What won me over was the proceeds from the purchase of the toys were going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital."

Since the Wockenfusses purchased the home in 2004, they have redone all four floors. They have refinished more than 80 percent of the hardwood floors, renovated the kitchen, refurbished the ballroom on the top floor, remodeled the master bedroom wing and  custom-tiled the floor this summer.

"This one," she said, referring to a white-flocked tree with very pink highlights, "was one I purchased on the Red Cross Silent Auction. I really liked the lightness, with its gingerbread men and ice cream cone ornaments."

The Chocolate House was featured on the 2008 tour. But Wockenfuss stressed participants will not get the same experience this time.

"We are decorating all four floors and our refurbished carriage house, which has never been on the tour," she said. "It was built two years after the house, and we restored it with the original horse feeders, the original barn door and windows."

In this area, Wockenfuss has a country tree with lanterns and a black and red plaid ribbon draped around the ornaments.

"We felt like because this house is on the historic registry, we wanted a rustic look," she said. "I also feel strongly about never forgetting those in the military service, so I plan on decorating a tree in a red, white and blue theme."

The decorations will continue outside with a sleigh and life-sized Santa on the patio. The Wockenfusses will also have their business, Premier Services, at 914 Jackson St., on the tour of homes.

"That home has beautiful stained glass windows and a fireplace I can't wait to decorate," she said.