They’ve lived in six homes during the 36 years they’ve been married. Of those, they renovated two and built two, including the one they just moved into in July.

“We just love the process,” Barbara Senter says. “My brother says, ‘We never put her address in ink. It’s always in pencil.’”

Their new home, at 641Brownrigg Road, was built on part of the property they purchased with their former home at 520 Club House Drive. The Senters bought that home from the Margaret Dobkin estate in 1992 and renovated it, selling last year to Dr. Robert Whitaker and his wife, Susan.

Both homes will be on tour next weekend for the very first “Home for the Holidays Home Tour” sponsored by Meals on Wheels of Rowan County, of which Barbara Senter is president.

The $10 tickets are on sale at Carol’s Shop and Bookmasters, both in the Ketner Center on West Innes Street, and at the Sidewalk Deli on South Main Street. Tickets may also be purchased at either home during the hours of the tour, scheduled for Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.

This is the very first fund-raiser for Meals on Wheels, an agency of the United Way of Rowan County. Proceeds from the tour will be used to expand the service, which serves 1,900 meals a month, into the outlying areas of the county.

Visitors may start the tour at either house, and weather permitting, will be able to walk through the back-to-back gardens, decorated for the holidays with garlands and wreaths.

The tour of the Senter home will begin in the front foyer. From there, visitors will be able to peek into the powder room, painted a glossy Ralph Lauren chocolate and decorated with gold, silk draperies, before entering the large master bedroom stretching from the front to the back of the house. “You can see the lake from here,” Barbara Senter says.

A caricature Charlotte Observer cartoonist Gene Payne did of her husband is displayed on the wall of the hallway leading to the master bath. Senter says she thought her husband’s patients might enjoy seeing it.

Dr. Senter is a rheumatologist in the Oak Hollow Professional Center on Statesville Boulevard.

The 3,100-square-foot house, not counting the 1,800 square feet of attic space, was built to look like an add-on house, according to Barbara Senter. “We wanted it to look like it had been here,” she says. Thick interior walls, old doors and two wings add to the look.

The idea for the home was conceived on a road trip through New England two years ago. The rough concept was of an old French manor that had been added on to over time, Senter says.

Upstairs are three large bedrooms for the Senters’ grown children, all of whom are married and live out of town. Their son’s room, decorated with a patriotic theme, includes a crib for his 9-month old and a Christmas tree at the foot of the bed, around which antique toys will be displayed during the tour.

Diane Everhart, Meals on Wheels coordinator for Central United Methodist Church in Spencer, is loaning her antique toy collection for visitors to see.

One of their daughter’s bedrooms is painted apple green and features a black wrought iron bed, while their other daughter’s room is painted pale yellow and decorated with Victorian accessories.

The yellow room opens up into an unfinished area where the Senters’ four grandchildren will be able to ride their tricycles during inclement weather.

Also upstairs is a small child’s room, painted pale yellow with built-in light blue bunk beds. The abundance of toys, stuffed animals and books makes it look like a scene from a children’s Christmas story.

Up on the third floor, a large section of the attic space has been draped off and decorated as a large playroom for the grandchildren.

Back on the first floor, the tour continues in the dining room with its hand-carved, hand-painted chandelier, and leads into the breakfast room and kitchen. A green and yellow hutch in the breakfast room was made by Dr. Senter after his wife saw one like it on the cover of Southern Accents.

The kitchen leads into the den, where the Senters display their collection of pottery by local potter Brent Smith, and a wooden mantel has been elegantly decorated for the holidays. A painting of one of their former homes hangs on the wall.

A Christmas tree and caroler figurines are displayed in the living room, which is next on the tour. The Christmas centerpiece on top of the Wurlitzer grand piano was arranged by Della Carlton.

“She’s one of our volunteers who delivers for St. Luke’s Episcopal Church,” Senter says.

Hanging on the wall above the couch in the living room are drawings of three more of the Senters’ former homes. From there, the tour goes to the screened-in back porch, decorated in a delightful winter scene.

The exterior of the house features Old Salem brick with handmade, functional shutters made by Dr. Senter in his workshop on the right corner of the lot.

“It really could be a guest house,” his wife says. “But he says it’s his shop. It has a second floor, and he and his friends built it.”

Visitors will be able to peek inside the workshop as they go down the walkway from the back porch steps to the gate of the brown picket fence dividing the property on their way to the Whitaker home.

Christmas wreaths hang on the windows of the deep red brick house, which is accented with pink granite. The pink granite used in the house came from Granite Quarry.

Designed by Margaret and Richard Dobkin, the 4,500-square-foot house was built in 1935 by Wagoner Construction. James A. Malcolm of Charlotte was the architect.

The original property consisted of four lots and extended from Club House Drive to Brownrigg Road. The raised garden on the left side of the lot was the Dobkins’ rose garden.

The Whitakers have painted the walls with bright colors and furnished the house with antiques. Portraits and photographs of their four sons, ranging in age from 18 months to 10 years, are displayed throughout the home.

The tour will start in the front foyer, where visitors will be able to view the circular stairway leading upstairs. From there, they will go into the breakfast room and kitchen and into Dr. Whitaker’s office with its intricate woodcarving and wormy chestnut bookcase and paneling.

Continuing in the dining room, where the Whitakers have hung a crystal chandelier, visitors will see the early Piedmont antique corner cupboard made in the early 1800s and the early Federal sideboard that belonged to Dr. Whitaker’s grandmother.

Next on the tour is the living room, where the Whitakers have their Christmas tree. The French-style fireplace features a large, carved wooden mantel and a marble hearth.

The library follows, where the walls are lined in wormy chestnut paneling and bookcases and the original brass chandelier still hangs. Visitors will go from the library to a large sun room with exposed granite that the Whitakers use as a playroom and from there to a glassed-in patio, which leads out into the formal garden.

The four upstairs bedrooms and nursery are not included on the tour.

Meals on Wheels volunteers helped decorate for the tour, along with Barbara Perry and Starr Shive. The youth of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where the Senters attend, decorated the gardens.

Barbara and Mark Perry’s collection of creches from all over the world will be displayed throughout both houses.

Contributing to the decorations were the Farmhouse Nursery, Godley’s Nursery, Queen’s Gifts, The Rose Garden and The Elizabeth House in Charlotte, co-owned by Cecil Shearin, Susan Whitaker’s cousin.

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