Friends of the White Plains Historic Home in Algood will provide a glimpse into the Victorian age Saturday as the house will be decorated in Victorian-aged Christmas decorations.
Volunteer Barbara Bray said the house decorations consist more of simple greenery throughout the house. Bray said the house is estimated to have been built in the 1840s and the group wanted to represent what the house would have looked like back then.
“It’s during that time period you know that the White Plains house was occupied that you start seeing the rise of Christmas being a celebration with your family around the Christmas tree,” Bray said.
Bray said the Victorian age Christmas was a more simpler time and so were the Christmas decorations. Bray said people used candles for lights on a tree and items like fruit as ornaments to decorate a Christmas tree.
“Fruit would have been considered something that was a luxury to give and receive and children maybe received one handmade wooden toy or something like that,” Bray said. “So the public will see kind of some differences between how Christmas was celebrated then and now.”
Bray said the house has eight fireplace mantles and they will be decorated for many families to enjoy.
“There was no central heating in the 1840s of course and so when you walk into each one of these rooms you see a fireplace,” Bray said. “Each one of those fireplaces has a different mantle and so whoever designed the house spent extra time and thought with the mantle and of course, we are taking advantage of those mantles over the fireplaces.”
Bray said the mantles will be a good spot for families to take pictures together. The Open House will run from 10am-4pm Saturday. Algood Mayor Lisa Fowler will be reading a Christmas Story to children at 2pm.
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