Every one deserves to have a little passion in their lives. For Charles and Sandra McKee, living in Monster - uh - Munster Land, is their dream-come-true
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For some of us it's a fast, expensive sports car and a weekend cruising the open highways of Texas.
Others of us might opt for season tickets to the Cowboys or Spurs home games, or a weekend shopping getaway in Houston's "uptown" Galleria. Imagine a silent sailing cruise down the warm Texas coast in May, or a complete workout gym add-on in our suburban backyard.
The point is, we all have our passions in life - golf for some, academia or research for others. Perhaps someone should compose a "Book of Passions", for surely there are enough unique passions out there to fill several volumes. Or a library.
For Charles and Sandra McKee, fans of the 60s Munster TV series, building the ultimate Munster Mansion in Waxahachie filled the bill as the perfect passion that fueled their imaginations into action, for today the McKee's live in their 10-room, 5,800-square foot Victorian-style home and couldn't love it more.
Sandra is actually the big Munster fan. The house was her dream, and the former insurance broker and her plumber husband started constructed just after the turn of the century (this one) and moved in on an August 15 afternoon - just ahead of a planned Halloween Party and house warming that was, by the way, attended by none other than former Munster cast members Al Lewis, who played Grandpa, and Butch Patrick, the pointy-eared Eddie Munster.
Working from production stills and by watching videos of all 70 episodes of "The Munsters," which ran in 1964-66, they have turned a fictional television home into a real curiosity. And the home is about as authentic as it gets.
The steep wooden staircase "is the most important thing in the whole house," says Sandra. "It had to be overwhelming. People had to come in and say, `That's the staircase!'
And come they did -- do. Perhaps the biggest draw back is that people keep showing up at the McKee's front door and wanting to know if they can "come in and look."
The answer is "yes", but only once a year during the annual Halloween fundraiser the McKees stage for the Waxahachie CASA program. The costume bash, in fact, is often the talk of town as October slips around each year, and this year is no exception. If you plan on attending this year, be mindful that advanced tickets are necessary. The dress is - well, Munster-type.
Of course, the house is not an exact replica. The "Real McCoy" was little more than a set in California. But the McKee's four-bedroom home has a lot more to it "behind the recognizable Munster rooms" that did the TV Munsters. Sandra collects antiques and says she prefers Victorian to modern design, and the house reflects her good taste.
Is the house haunted? That's a question that comes to many minds. But the answer is no. Except it is rumored that the McKees grown daughter refuses to stay in the house because it's "so creepy."
The McKees maintain a great web site where you can take a virtual tour of the Munster Mansion. And you can also get details about the upcoming Halloween Bash.
Waxahachie's Munster Mansion! What's your passion?
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