Ghosts of Christmas Past Linger in Hudson
Dec. 8, 2003 -- 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. FDR built Val-Kill as a retreat for his wife, and of all theChristmas recreations in the Hudson Valley, this one will remindthe most visitors of their own Christmases past. The stone cottageis decorated for the holidays in the style of the 1950s, when thewidowed former first lady would entertain her grandchildren atChristmas. She made her own window stencils of snowflakes andbells, and sometimes added little pieces of cotton around thewindow sills if it didn't snow. Packages are piled on chairs andsofas in the living room, divided up by family.
"She tried to put touches of Christmas in every room that shecould," said Urbin. The rooms are arranged according to picturesand stories passed on by family members.
At Locust Grove, the estate once occupied by Samuel F. B. Morse,inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, Christmas festivitiesrevolve around stories of the season, rather than a particular timeperiod. For example, the drawing-room tree in Morse's Tuscan-stylevilla is designed to look like a tree from "The Nutcracker."
Decorations in the master bedroom were inspired by "The NightBefore Christmas." It's a fitting theme, since Locust Grove wasonce owned by Henry Livingston Jr.; some historians believe thatLivingston, and not Clement Moore, was the true author of theclassic poem.
If You Go…
CALL AHEAD: Fees, days and hours of admission to Hudson Valleymansions vary, and tours on weekends often sell out, so call ahead.All are closed Christmas and New Year's. VANDERBILT MANSION: Hyde Park. Open daily. Tour reservations:(800) 967-2283. Information: (845) 229-9115 or www.nps.gov/vama. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT HOME: Hyde Park. Open daily. Tourreservations: (800) 967-2283. Information: (845) 229-9115 orwww.nps.gov/hofr. VAL-KILL: Hyde Park. Open Thursdays through Mondays. Tourreservations: (800) 967-2283. Information: (845) 229-9115 orhttp://www.nps.gov/hofr. LOCUST GROVE: Poughkeepsie. Hot cider, guides, storytelling anddecorations featuring scenes from classic holiday tales, Dec. 13-14and Dec. 20-21, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Fees: $17 per family, $7 adults,$3 youths. Call (845) 454-4500 or visit www.morsehistoricsite.org. CLERMONT STATE HISTORIC SITE: Germantown. Open weekends 11 a.m.to 4 p.m. Information: (518) 537-4240 or www.friendsofclermont.org. OLANA: Hudson. Christmas open house: Dec. 13-14, 10 a.m. to 4p.m. Information: (518) 828-0135 or www.olana.org. BOSCOBEL: Neoclassical-style mansion in Garrison. Open dailyexcept Tuesdays. Special candlelight tours, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Dec.12, 13 and 14. Closed January through March. Information: (845)265-3638 or www.boscobel.org.