Ghosts of Christmas Past Linger in Hudson

Dec. 8 -- From a 1940s-style Christmas tree at FDR'sfamily home, to scenes from classic stories at a 19th centuryvilla, the historic mansions of the Hudson Valley will be decoratedthis month in the spirit of holidays past.

Visitors to Olana, home of Hudson River School painter FredericChurch, will be able to glimpse a tree in the family's sitting roomas it might have looked in the late 1800s. Dolls and a rocker,presents the artist's children received for Christmas, will also beon display, while musicians will play Victorian selections.

Curators focused on authenticity when decorating the home Churchbuilt on the east bank of the river, according to Gerry Weidel,historic site assistant. A floral historian will arrange the flowerglobes on the dinner table using photographs in the collection andaccording to the fashions of the time.

The nearby Clermont estate, in the town of Germantown, was hometo seven generations of the Livingston family, including Robert R.Livingston, who administered the oath of office to GeorgeWashington. Each Christmas, the home is decorated with familyornaments from a different era. This year, the 9-foot tree willfeature 1930s-era Colonial Revival pieces.

The National Park Service is hosting a "Historic Hyde ParkChristmas" at the three estates managed by the federal governmentin the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park: Vanderbilt Mansion, thehome of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt's retreat,Val-Kill.

Christmas, Vanderbilt Style

Industrialist Frederick Vanderbilt's 54-room mansion "will belavishly decorated to represent the kind of Christmas the people ofVanderbilt's social status would have," said Franceska Urbin,supervising park ranger. Elegantly decorated trees accent themansion's gold-leaf furniture and ornate style.

At the Roosevelt home, near a portrait of the president, a 1940sera Christmas tree will be surrounded by stacks of presents. Pottedpoinsettias can be found throughout the home as well, and works byDickens will be read in accordance with a Roosevelt familytradition.