Touring the Elms at Christmastime

I have been wanting to see one of the Newport mansions all decked out for Christmas for a few years now.  I was thrilled to finally set a date and that all three boys were willing to go.  We picked up my mom on the way and had a wonderful time touring the house.

The decorations were amazing (though we were reminded that these were summer cottages and would not have been decorated or used at this time of year).

Regardless of how accurate it might have been the rooms were just beautiful with trees and greenery everywhere.  I think we might need to tour a different mansion next year and see how the decorations vary from house to house!

There were giant Christmas balls over the arches on  the grand staircase and greenery on all the banisters.

These three beautiful trees greet you at the entrance to the grand ballroom.

 This red and white tree went perfectly in the master's study.

The solarium had lots of beautiful poinsettias filling the fountain and beautiful fresh floral displays that filled the room with the scent of lilies.

The fire place in the grand ballroom was flanked by ornamental trees, lots of flickering candles, and  little touches of blue and gold to match the room

We got a closer look at the trees and found that they were surrounded by more poinsettias, wire angels, and bare branched white trees.

Upon closer inspection the middle tree was filled with these pretty color coordinated angels and pale glass baubles.

The dining room was set for a winter dinner party.

Complete with name plates, topiaries, and I just loved the hints of black and gold in with all that green and white.

The chandeliers in all the rooms were sparkling bright

And I just loved that even little touches of greenery were tucked in here and there; like under this statue.

The morning room had touches of decorations here and there too but nothing could compare to the wall panels.

We got a quick glimpse into the behind the scenes area of the dining room where food was plated to be served.  It was directly over the kitchen and all three floors were connected to the dumbwaiter that sent clean and dirty plates up and down as well as the food.

Later we got a glimpse at all the plates, glasses and china.  That's a lot of different place setting for a few weeks of use in the summertime!

This room belonged to Mr. Berwind's sister and she sounded like quite the character!  I think I would have liked to meet her.  I sure did love her bright room!

Next we got to see Mrs. Berwind's bedroom and I think I loved the tree they had set up in this room the most!

I've decided I need to find these long strands of beads for our tree!  They are so elegant.

Mr. Berwind's bedroom was very masculine and I loved that the Christmas decorations matched the deep reds and blues.

Most of the sconces throughout the house had this pretty iris pattern to the glass.

This room was used more like a family living room and it was so cute that the tree was surrounded by exotic stuffed animals.  It was a really pretty tree too.

There was so much to see everywhere we looked.  I just love that these houses were so opulent and the detail work is just staggering.

They had a few Christmas displays set up in the cold kitchen and we learned about life in the actual kitchen as well.  I am not sure I would have wanted to be a servant in these houses... they sound like a lot of work to clean and maintain. 

I did buy an ornament off this tree in the gift shop and we had fun poking around at all the ornaments and knick knacks they had on display.

The tour ends at the service entrance and I can only imagine how beautiful this looks in spring; all of these branches overhead are part of a huge wisteria vine that completely covered the cars that were making deliveries from view of the guests.

We walked around the back of the house and back to our car.

Have you ever toured any of the Newport mansions? Which is your favorite?

 So far this is our third mansion and I'd have a hard time picking a favorite, but I really did love all the holiday decorations.

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