Wonder restored

Even before the front door is opened - even before one climbs the outside steps of the Spinelli home in Riverton - the dazzle begins curbside.

The wraparound porch, the gazebo - and in this season, the lights and decorations - all suggest that something magical is unfolding.

This is an exceptional place in any season, but at Christmas, the pre-Victorian home takes on a glow with an aura of yesteryears that blur present and future.

The soaring ceilings, the woodwork, the fireplaces and arches and crown moldings all explain why 700 visitors poured in for a holiday tour sponsored by the Riverton Free Library last year.

The tale of how the Spinellis came to own the Second Empire period home is one of patience and persistence.

It was in 1986 that the couple, both educators - she at St. Joseph's University, he as a corrective reading specialist in South Jersey - first saw the home. Back then, it was almost completely hidden by overgrown shrubs.

"It was definitely not very inviting," Cathy recalls.

Still, they considered what the three-story house, divided into several apartments, could be as a unified whole.

But then they learned there was no high school in Riverton, and with four kids ages 4 to 10, it was a deal-breaker - at least for the moment. They bought it anyway, knowing that someday they would not be landlords with rental apartments.

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Wonder restored