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Decorated Historic Sites this Holiday Season in Dutchess

Date Published: November 8, 2023

The holiday season truly is “the most wonderful time of the year” in the Hudson Valley, and Dutchess County’s many Colonial homesteads and Gilded Age mansions are getting decked out in their most festive décor for the occasion. Warm your heart and set your holiday spirit aglow with a visit to any of these historic sites and great estates and learn about the people, events and cultures that have shaped the region’s rich history. 

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Featured in this article: Staatsburgh State Historic Site | Elmendorph Inn | Wilderstein Historic Site | Mesier Homestead | Clermont Historic Site | Locust Grove Estate | Mount Gulian Historic Site | Roosevelt Historic Sites | Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site 


Staatsburgh State Historic Site Christmas tree and holiday decorations

Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Staatsburg

Make your reservations now for Staatsburgh’s “A Gilded Age Christmas” and immerse yourself in holiday cheer as you tour Ogden and Ruth Livingston Mills’ lavish estate overlooking the Hudson River. Tours run Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 24 – Dec. 31 (except Dec. 24 and 25), plus Dec. 26 and 27. Admire the home’s stunning interiors, along with their original furniture and art, specially decorated for the holiday season. 

Perhaps you’d like to party like it’s 1899. If so, then the Friends of Mills at Staatsburgh's A Gilded Victorian Christmas Gala on Dec. 9 is just your thing. Enjoy live music, hors d’oeuvres and drinks in the Mills Mansion’s formal dining room. (Note: Currently, the Gilded Age Gala is SOLD OUT for 2023).


Related: Local Dutchess Sparkling Wines Perfect for Your New Year's Cheers 


Elmendorph Inn Red Hook
Elmendorph Inn, Red Hook

Elmendorph Inn, Red Hook

Historic Red Hook hosts a traditional holiday favorite with its Holiday Open House at the Elmendorph Inn on Dec. 3. Enjoy live holiday music, hot mulled cider, homemade cookies and fresh-baked treats from the beehive oven! Constructed in the mid-1700s, the Elmendorph Inn once served as a popular and convenient stopover on the stagecoach trip between New York City and Albany, which took four days (Are we there yet??).


Wilderstein Historic Site, Rhinebeck

The former residence of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s distant cousin and longtime confidante Daisy Suckley, Wilderstein is open for Holiday Tours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Thanksgiving Weekend through Dec. 23. Take a guided tour of the first floor, along with the recently restored second floor of the mansion, which was built in 1852. The estate was named Wilderstein (wild man’s stone) in reference to a Native American petroglyph on the property, a reminder of the Indigenous peoples who lived in this region before the arrival of the European settlers. 


Mesier Homestead Wappingers Falls
Mesier Homestead, Wappingers Falls

Mesier Homestead, Wappingers Falls

Holiday Open House events (Dec. 6, 13, 16 and 20) offer a perfect chance to experience the Mesier Homestead all dressed up for the holidays, complete with candlelight, greenery, ribbons and bows. The little ones are sure to love Mesier’s Sinterklaas and Dutch Holiday Traditions celebration on Dec. 2. This fun family event is filled with stories, decorations and traditional Dutch holiday treats. Discover the history of Sinterklaas and learn about the holiday traditions the Dutch settlers brought with them to the New World. Learn how Sinterklaasavond (St. Nicholas eve) was celebrated, and taste some of the traditional Dutch sweets that were part of the festivities. 

While you’re there, learn about the homestead’s fascinating history. It was constructed in 1741 by Dutchmen Adolphus and Nicholas Brouwer. Nicholas and his sons were active Patriots and provided wheat, corn and other supplies, without compensation, to George Washington's Army during the Revolutionary War. The Homestead was later sold to Peter Mesier, a Tory loyalist merchant from New York City whose store was the target of the Wappingers Tea Party of 1777. Be sure to visit the Mesier Homestead gift shop for local-themed art, books and gifts — but beware of angry Patriots who refuse to pay full price for tea! 


Related: Experience the Magic of Sinterklaas in Dutchess 


Clermont Historic Site, Germantown

Speaking of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” head to the Livingston Mansion at the Clermont Historic Site for the Holiday Traditions for Children event on Dec. 3 and enjoy a free reading of the timeless poem by the Livingston’s nanny, followed by caroling and a visit from Belsnickel, the centuries-old, fictional, gift-giving character from German folklore who came to the New World with the Palatines. The fur-cloaked Belsnickel came to bring gifts to the good children and scare the bad ones into being good.

There will also be a Crafty Kids Holiday Party featuring holiday crafts, a hot chocolate bar, wintertime treats and a festive atmosphere on Dec. 9, and a Holiday Open House featuring the mansion decorated for the season on Dec. 16.

The original Livingston Mansion, built in 1740, was burned by the British in 1777 because of the family’s allegiance to the Patriots during the Revolutionary War. Margaret Beekman Livingston escaped to a relative’s house in Connecticut before the burning and soon returned to oversee the project of reconstructing the mansion. 


Locust Grove Estate Poughkeepsie
The Drawing Room at Locust Grove Estate, Poughkeepsie (photo by Nathaniel Cooper)

Locust Grove Estate, Poughkeepsie

The crew at Locust Grove will have the 170-year-old mansion looking simply “dashing” for the holidays (which is what one might expect at the one-time summer home of Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse Code and the telegraph). See more than 20 trees fancifully decorated with antique ornaments, as well as other seasonal displays. Holiday Mansion Tours are held each Saturday from Dec. 2 – 23 and daily from Dec. 26 – 30. 

Bring the kids for the Holiday Hunt in the Mansion, a festive scavenger hunt in the historic, Italianate-style mansion, set for Dec. 3, 10 and 17. Also on Dec. 10 will be a discussion featuring author and art historian Pamela McColl, who will talk about the beloved poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Many scholars believe the poem was written by Locust Grove's 18th-century owner, Henry Livingston Jr.  

If you’re looking to finish your holiday shopping (or, perhaps, start it) then head to Locust Grove the weekend after Thanksgiving, Nov. 24 – 26, for the Hudson Valley Artisan Marketplace. Browse through the unique, hand-made creations of dozens of vendors from the Hudson Valley.   

There are also a variety of editions of Sunset Sensations, Locust Grove's delicious dining series featuring chefs, craft beverage professionals and other local foodies curating three-course menus. Click here for a full schedule!


Related: Top 10 December Events 


Mount Gulian Historic Site Beacon
View of the Hudson River from Mount Gulian Historic Site, Beacon

Mount Gulian Historic Site, Beacon

Tours of the Verplanck homestead — which served as the headquarters of patriot General Friedrich Von Steuben during the Revolutionary War — will be held on December 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Tours will begin at 12, 1 and 2 p.m.; reservations are recommended but not required. The rooms of the home will be decorated in different styles to reflect different time periods, including Victorian décor in the dining room; rustic decorations in the study; and contemporary holiday displays in the main room. The museum’s fascinating collections of artifacts and ephemera will be showcased against the backdrop of the stunning holiday displays. Prepare to be amazed as you learn of the remarkable history of Mount Gulian and its various residents. 

Plus, Mount Gulian's popular Children's Holiday Tea is set for Dec. 27. This event, which is always sold out in advance, combines fun, good manners, and education about a bygone era in an place where social teas were once standard fare. It will be held in Mount Gulian’s two main museum rooms, beautifully decorated for the holidays, with tables set with fine linens and china. Prepaid reservations are due by Dec. 15.


Roosevelt Historic Sites, Hyde Park

The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site will host holiday-themed tours — which will feature a ranger-guided tour and stories about Roosevelt family Christmas traditions — every day from Nov. 24 – Dec. 31 (except Dec. 25).

Val-Kill Cottage at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site will host free ranger-guided tours of three rooms of the cottage which have been decorated for the holidays every Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 24 – Dec. 31.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Home of FDR National Historic Site will host a full day of free holiday events on Dec. 9. The Museum will be open to visitors free of charge from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. The Home of FDR (Springwood) will have free tours available from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Enjoy holiday decorations, refreshments and special activities — including live music and free photo ops with Santa — beginning at 12 p.m. in the Wallace Center. Also, Val-Kill will be decorated for the holidays and open to visitors for free from 12:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.

The annual Children's Reading Festival is also scheduled for Dec. 9 from 1:30 – 4 p.m. in the Wallace Center. Children's book authors will read from and sign copies of their books.; featured books will be available for purchase in the New Deal Store in the Wallace Center. Participating authors include Barbara Ann Mojica, author of "Little Miss History Travels to Hyde Park, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum," and Barbara Guerriero-Flites, author of "The Memoir of a White House Dog: My Life with President Franklin Roosevelt: 1940-1945."

Children can also make holiday cards for sailors on the USS Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Refreshments will be served throughout the afternoon in the Wallace Center lobby.


Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Hyde Park

The Roosevelts' Hyde Park neighbors, the Vanderbilts, are hosting some holiday-themed fun of their own this season. Ranger-guided Holiday House Tours of the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site will be held every day from Nov. 24 – Dec. 31 (except Dec. 25). The tours will feature more than a dozen rooms on three floors of the mansion, including the living room, which will be decorated for Christmas, and the dining room, where a table will be set for a Gilded Age holiday buffet party. 


Photo of the Main Hall Christmas Tree at Staatsburgh by Karl Rabe.

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