Christmas in Newport

Jim and I spent last weekend in Newport, Rhode Island, touring some of the mansions that we couldn't fit in on our trip back in September, strolling through the historic district and reveling in the Christmas delights. During our previous trip, we discovered that a few of the mansions are decorated for the holidays, so we immediately started planning our return.

The Breakers, the Elms and Marble House are all decorated, and coincidentally we had skipped the Elms and Marble House on our first tour. I had been to both once before on my first trip to Newport, but I had never been in the off-season. Photography is usually off-limits inside of the mansions, but exceptions were made in each house for some of the more elaborately decorated sections.

All three houses were beautifully decorated, with trees in almost every room, garland-covered banisters and elaborate mantlepiece scenes. The Breakers even had a display of gingerbread Newport Mansions—I loved the renditions of the Chinese Tea House from Marble House and Kingscote, which we toured back in September.

Of course all of the decorations are really just for show—most of the mansions were strictly summer homes and sat empty in the winter months. Historically accurate or not, the mansions are perfect backdrops for the opulent reds and golds of Christmas and every grand staircase looks even more grand wrapped in evergreen.

Of course I also enjoyed the more humble wreaths and candy-cane-striped porch columns that we spotted on our walk around town. I've always thought that New England is a quintessential fall destination, but it turns out that the colonial, federal and shingle-style houses with their dark green siding and bright red doors are pretty perfect for the Christmas season as well.