Tudor is Pittsburgh's -- and America's -- favorite architectural import. Named for the family that ruled England in the 1400s and 1500s, its warm stone, massive chimneys and half-timbering suggest old money and good breeding on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mt. Lebanon, whose building boom from the 1920s through the '40s coincided with America's biggest Tudor fascination, has more of them than most suburbs. Today and Wednesday, you can see two very different examples of the style, decorated for Christmas.

Joe and Grace DeIuliis' 62-year-old Colonial turned Tudor is one of six houses open from 9:30 a.m. to noon today for Coldwell Banker's fourth annual Holiday House Tour. On Wednesday, Dan and Sarah Vogus' 77-year-old Cotswold Tudor will be featured on Howard Hanna's 17th annual Holiday House Tour.

The DeIuliises have just finished a nearly two-year renovation that gave their 1945 house a more open floor plan and complete face-lift. When the couple first looked at it in late 2005, the house's sandstone and aluminum siding (covering clapboard) had been painted white for more than 40 years.

The siding, shutters and double-hung windows gave the house a generic Colonial Revival style. The DeIuliises, who had lived in two other Mt. Lebanon Tudors previously, immediately thought it would look better in their favorite style. In fact, the house's front-facing gables and asymmetrical facade are more common in Tudor than Georgian (Colonial) architecture. But they decided to wait to see the condition of the siding under the aluminum before deciding whether to do a makeover or restoration.

		More information Coldwell Banker's Holiday House Tour in Mt. Lebanon runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon today, with raffles, auctions, specialty boutique and lunch by Atria's available at the Route 19/Galleria office, 1539 Washington Road. Tickets, $20, are available at the office or at Rollier's Hardware. Proceeds go to the Make A Wish Foundation. Howard Hanna's Mt. Lebanon Holiday House runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. From 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., lunch by Max & Erma's will be offered along with Chinese and silent auctions, raffles and gift items at the office, 607 Washington Road, Tickets, $20 in advance, $25 at the door, are available at local shops and the Howard Hanna office. Information: 412-561-7400. Proceeds benefit Children's Hospital's Free Care Fund.

"I didn't want something that looked like a fake-out," said Mr. DeIuliis, a newly elected Mt. Lebanon commissioner and owner of Magnolia Construction, a highway and road contractor.

The couple found that the wooden clapboards were severely rotted, which helped them make up their minds.

"It looked like a monster had taken a bite out of it," said Mrs. DeIuliis.

First, they had American Restoration chemically strip the paint off the sandstone. Then Mr. DeIuliis began sketching the half-timbering and stucco later installed by Brian Jones and Ed Lagnese, respectively. One of the most difficult tasks, he said, was figuring out the correct window pane and muntin sizes for the new Pella Architectural series casement windows installed by Scott Bros. Mr. DeIuliis also distressed the timbers to give them a rustic look.

Inside, they removed walls that had separated the entry, dining room and kitchen, which now has dark cherry cabinetry, Baltic Brown granite countertops and stainless-steel Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances. Mike Jones Flooring seamlessly repaired and refinished the original white oak floors on the first floor.

Interior and exterior work was still going on this week while Mrs. DeIuliis was decorating for the tour with help from Ginny Nurkus of Pittsburgh Cut Flower. Mr. DeIuliis was on a ladder at midnight one day, hanging wreaths.

On Christmas, they and their three daughters will host his family from Brookline and hers from Beaver Falls, a gathering to rival anything Charles Dickens dreamed up.

"Grace has a really big family. Now that we've opened up this space, there's plenty of room for everyone," Mr. DeIuliis said.

The Voguses' Christmas will have a British accent, and not just because their house is a Tudor. The family lived in Surrey, England, for six years while Mr. Vogus worked for H.J. Heinz. One of their three children lives in London. Heck, they even have joint British citizenship.

On each 1920s Wedgwood plate in the dining room is a traditional English cracker filled with treats, a paper crown and a joke.

"Everyone crosses arms and pulls on the ends," Mrs. Vogus said. "Then they read their jokes and wear the crowns and look like fools!"

When the family first moved back to the States three years ago, Mrs. Vogus had trouble finding real English crackers. This year, she found them at Marshall's.

An antique lover who grew up in an 1895 Illinois farmhouse that her parents restored, Mrs. Vogus said the couple lived in a new house in a North Hills plan when her husband, an Imperial native, joined Heinz.

"But I never felt comfortable," she said.

After stints in England and Frankfurt, Germany, they looked to buy something with more character, and found it in Mt. Lebanon. Cotswold Tudors are not uncommon here. Instead of half-timbering and stucco, they have large chimneys and are made entirely of tan sandstone like that found in the Cotswolds in middle England.

The houses often have stained- or leaded-glass casement windows, arched doorways, rough textured plaster and dark-stained woodwork. The Voguses' house has all of that, plus a carved stone fireplace in the living room, built-in bookcases and china cabinets and one uncommon detail: hand-painted flowers, birds and butterflies on the diamond-paned windows in the dining room.

The former owners, who lived here 30 years, believed they were painted by an itinerant artist shortly after the house was built. The painted windows are not mentioned on the original plans, which show the architect was named Earl Loomis. The plans do show an interesting feature that was never built -- an interior fountain in the sun room now used as a study.

That small space is well-lit by a large bow window during the day and in the evening by a reproduction Wurlitzer jukebox. The family picked it up in England and swapped out British CDs for American ones. Mrs. Vogus bought many rustic antiques there for the family's 1850s farmhouse. She discovered they didn't look right in their American Tudor.

"This house doesn't go for that," she said.

The house does seem to go for natural holiday decorations. Pete Donati & Sons created the pine centerpieces and roping. By Wednesday's tour, the Fraser fir tree will be decorated with wooden ornaments made by Mrs. Vogus' father, straw ornaments from Austria, and gold balls from Christkindlsmarkt, the Christmas market in Nuremberg, Germany.

Some of the family's decorations stayed in boxes last year because of construction. They had contractor Les Zupon remove a wall to make way for a bigger, better kitchen and revamped the upstairs, creating a large bath and walk-in closet from the fourth bedroom. Williams Stained Glass created new stained-glass windows for the kitchen and upstairs bath, and Stan Adamik of Weisshouse helped redecorate the living room based on the color scheme of a favorite painting.

But the house retains the charm and practicality of an English cottage.

"We wanted a house where we could use every room. This house is perfect for us," Mrs. Vogus said.