Four DeKalb area homes and the Ellwood House are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, when the Ellwood House Association holds its 21st annual “Tour of Homes.”

The 30-room Ellwood House, 509 N. First St., DeKalb, was built in 1879 by barbed wire “baron” Isaac Ellwood. The Ellwood House Association is a “membership organization that acts as a support group for the Ellwood House Museum,” said Gerald Brauer, museum director.

Visitors to the mansion will have the chance to see the recently restored decorated ceilings in the main hall. Rooms in the mansion remain much as the Ellwoods left them.

The Parks home, 420 Somonauk, Sycamore, also will be featured on the tour. The large, Queen Anne-style home was designed by George Garnsey, architect of the Ellwood House.

“That (the home) is really spectacular inside. It’s worth the price of the ticket just to see the inside of that house. It’s gigantic,” Brauer said.

The Petersen home, a “bed and breakfast” inn on Quigley Road in Sycamore is another stop on the tour. In addition to the home, visitors may see the family’s African pygmy goats and trained horse who is able to cross its legs, bow and kneel.

Other stops on the tour are the Lanan home on Annie Glidden Road in Kingston and the McCue home, 508 Somonauk St., Sycamore. Refreshments will be served throughout the day at Mayfield Church in Sycamore.

Tickets for the “Tour of Homes” may be purchased at the Ellwood House Museum office or at the door of any of the homes on Saturday. Visitors can start their tours at any home.

Brauer said proceeds from the tour are used for special projects and restoration work at the Ellwood House. “We’re hoping to restore the large awning that was on the south side of the building,” he said.

For more information about the tour, call the Ellwood House Museum office at 756-4609. Admission is $8.