A Grand Holiday at the Mansion: From Victorian to Modern” will start at noon Friday, November 23, 2012, the day after Thanksgiving, with the unveiling of Victorian holiday exhibits displayed throughout the first floor of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. Period rooms will be decorated to show changing traditions from the 1850s through 1890s with many different Christmas trees, a holiday table setting, and Victorian children’s toys. A special treat this year will be a display of holiday traditions from the early 1930s drawing inspiration from a letter written by Florence Mathews, the last resident of the Mansion, in 1933.
Contemporary decorations also will be displayed throughout the Mansion’s first floor. The Grand Staircase designed by Herter brothers and considered a masterpiece of domestic Victorian architecture in America will feature decorations by Danna DiElsi, owner of the Silk Touch in Norwalk, CT. Beautifully-decorated and lit garlands will lay the entire length of the stairs on both sides. Ms. DiElsi has more than 18 years of design experience and uses only the finest imported silk for all her floral arrangements. A large Christmas tree on the landing of the Grand Staircase will be adorned with lights and decorations by LMMM Trustee Maury Rose and Phyllis Rose, owners of the Maury Rose Group, an interior design firm in Greenwich, CT.
The Mansion’s vestibule with vaulted ceiling, American walnut wainscot, and burnished English walnut panels will be decorated by LMMM Trustee Victoria Vandamm of Vandamm Interiors in Stamford, CT. Ms. Vandamm’s work is featured all over the country and in Europe. The magnificent Entrance Hall with its four columns of Florentine marble, carved walnut mantel and statuary will be decorated by interior designer and LMMM Trustee Linda Fontaine, of Linda Fontaine Design. Ms. Fontaine has been in business for more than 30 years and is an ASID Allied member.
