Make yourself at home during Woman's Club tour

The three homes on this year's The Woman's Club House and Garden Tour span 108 years of history.

The event is set for April 13, and the theme is "Elegance and Charm in the Brazos Valley." The homes of Linda Roberts, Chad and Lauren Hovde and Bonnie and Otway Denny will be featured.

Built in 1902, Roberts' home (601 E. 30th St.) is the oldest on the tour and is located in the Bryan Historical District. Roberts bought the home in 2007 and spent 16 months renovating it into a bed and breakfast, now called The Clary House.

"My sister and I love bed and breakfasts," Roberts said. "I always wanted to do this. I like to entertain and decorate."

Roberts, who is set to retire from teaching mathematics at Montgomery High School after this school year, lives in the home and even rents out her own bedroom occasionally. She named each bedroom after a friend or family member who inspired her.

"Since I live here, I wanted this place to be a little classier," she said. "I had a lot of fun doing it."

The Elizabeth Room is named after her aunt, Velma Elizabeth, who raised her for a period of time. Some of the antiques in the room originally belonged to Velma Elizabeth.

"She was kinda like an original Martha Stewart," Roberts said.

The Quincy Room -- decorated in a rustic, outdoor theme -- was named after Roberts' brother-in-law, John Quincy. The Alice Room was named after Alice Clary, who lived in the house before Roberts. The Linda Lee Room is Roberts' room, named after herself.

The bed and breakfast is available for booking at www.theclaryhouse.com. Roberts said she has accommodated about 150 guests since August.

"I have met some of the most incredible, interesting people," she said.

The Hovde home, located in the North Oakwood neighborhood of Bryan (400 Hensel Avenue), was built in 1939 for Dr. John Milliff and his wife, Ruth. Milliff was the Dean of the Texas A&M veterinary anatomy school and a civic leader in Bryan. The Milliffs lived in the house until their deaths in the mid-1990s, and it was passed down to their nephew.

In 2007, the Hovdes bought the 3,000-square-foot house and have spent the last three years restoring it to its original state. Everything is true to the time period, including tile work, lighting, floors, doors, windows and furnishings. They even used dental picks to remove the paint and expose the original wood walls in Milliff's study.

"We've been kind of meticulous about the restoration of it," Chad Hovde said.

The Hovdes utilized the original plans, plus their own research.

"We were so true to the periodness of the whole thing," he said.

Deborah Anderson, chairman of the House and Garden Tour committee, said the authenticity is incredible.

"It's refreshing to see a young couple be so passionate about restoring a home to how it was in its early days," she said.

The Dennys' house (3307 Emory Oaks, Bryan), built in 2010, is the newest on the tour. It is a two-story, 8,000-square-foot, Southern Colonial-style home in the Traditions neighborhood. Bonnie Denny was inspired by family homes in the deep South.

"I truly styled this house after my grandmother's house in Mississippi and my aunt's house in Louisiana, and some of the plantations I've been through in Louisiana," she said.

Otway Denny graduated from A&M in 1971. The couple moved to Bryan from Houston, where Otway practices law, and have held season tickets to A&M football games for 40 years. They developed many friendships with Bryan-College Station residents and decided they were ready to get out of the big city.

"It feels like home up here to us," Bonnie said.

The house has a formal living room, formal dining room, five bedrooms, two family rooms, a library and a screened-in porch upstairs that looks out onto the Traditions golf course.

"It's a large house, but it's a very welcoming house," Anderson said. "It's built around a lot of family history. It showcases a lot of the different generations of the Denny family."

Bonnie Otway said they built the house large so their friends and family would always have a place to stay when they came to visit.

"This past football season, every football game, every bedroom was filled," she said.

If you go

* When: April 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

* Tickets: $15; available by calling 822-5019, at the home on the day of the tour or from any Woman's Club member.

* Luncheon: The Woman's Club will also hold a luncheon on the day of the tour at 1200 Carter Creek Parkway in Bryan. Cost is $15; tickets must be purchased in advance from a club member or by calling 822-5019.