It’s one of many the family looks forward to that has them sipping hot chocolate from old Santa Claus mugs and trimming the tree with cherished ornaments. The onset of the season also signals a whole house transformation where every table is dressed with floral arrangements, every window wears ribbons and wreaths, and every fireplace drips with garlands. Planning begins in November when the first step is settling on a color theme.
For her participation in last year’s Greenwich Historical Society’s Antiquarius Holiday House Tour, the homeowner decided to play off the home’s coral, blue and brown palette starting with placing big coral poinsettias at the foot of the staircase. In the dining room, a custom coral tablecloth topped with arrangements of roses in a similar hue embellished the table. “Lace got lost in there, and red and green was all wrong,” she says. In the living room, the garlands were filled with white amaryllis and laced with French velvet and satin ribbons in shades of celadon with hints of coral.
Outside, thanks to 80, 10-inch electrified balls, the trees become a spectacle that’s anticipated every other year by the whole neighborhood. The process is very labor intensive: “It requires tree pruners, electric cords, timers and cherry pickers,” the homeowner notes.
In fact, holiday prep outside and inside the stately residence necessitates a small crew to pull it all together. For the “heavy lifting,” she relies on Carolyn Dempsey Design for things like the garlands on the front door and staircase, and Katherine Jacobs from KDJ Botanica for the living room mantel and flower arrangements. “She’s a magician,” says the homeowner about Jacobs. “Her selections, taste and eye are just extraordinary.”
The carefully orchestrated effort plays out against a perfect backdrop of antique fireplaces, traditional millwork and exquisite furnishings. Even the three-story circular stair looks like it was custom crafted with a swoop of pinecone-filled greenery in mind. But it wasn’t always so. During a thoughtful and meticulous renovation, architect Kahlil Hamady opened the foyer by building a new staircase that ascends three floors and ends with a stunning trompe l’oeil dome.
In 2004, the owners fell hard for the classic Georgian architecture and the surrounding 11 acres but chose to reside there for seven years to “study the light and space” before making changes. With his clients determined to maintain the historical integrity while updating the structure for modern family life, Hamady was careful to keep the original body of the house intact while introducing two new symmetrical wings, creating a kitchen and family room on the right and a library and guestroom on the left. “The goal was to open the house to the extraordinary views while maintaining balance and symmetry,” says the architect.
Along the way, interior designer Bunny Williams selected furnishings and accessories in keeping with the owner’s love of pale blues and corals, starting in the living room where she grounded the space with a 19th-century oushak in those very hues. “It’s a pale dreamy cream room with beautiful silk taffeta curtains and surprise touches like the cotton velvet ottoman,” she says. In the dining room, simple white painted chairs surround an elegant English mahogany table and, in lieu of another antique rug, there’s a contemporary floor covering with an arabesque pattern. “Introducing a modern element keeps the room from feeling stodgy,” Williams explains.
The result is a home that is elegant and beautiful year round yet sparkles come holiday time. “My mother was so creative and always made Christmas so special, I wanted to continue that tradition,” says the homeowner. “I can still remember the smell of fresh pine garlands when you walked in the door. Now it’s like that here.”