Homes for the Holidays

It’s “that time of year” when many of us take pride in filling our homes with garlands, twinkling lights, ornaments, and decorations. Every year three high-profile institutions—The American Swedish Institute, the Alexander Ramsey House, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts—also deck their halls, but in a way no average home decorator could easily manage. Visiting them has become an annual tradition for those who like to revel in the season’s pageantry. We’re happy to present a preview on the following pages. If you’re looking for even more holiday cheer, we’ve also included other festive homes and events that are waiting for some good company to help celebrate the holidays.

American Swedish Institute
For more than twenty-five years, the 100-year-old Turnblad mansion, home of the American Swedish Institute and its museum, has decorated five rooms representative of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. In each room, there’s a table formally set with the dinnerware of the country as well as traditional decorations. Curator Curt Pederson works with community members from these Scandinavian countries, such as the Icelandic consulate general’s wife and daughter, to adorn the mansion with complementary holiday furnishings. The Icelandic room, for example, features thirteen yule lads—mythical creatures who emerge from the mountains to come and go with the passing days before Christmas. For many, the highlight of a visit to the ASI is the trees. The ultimate holiday centerpiece, each is intricately hand-decorated with everything from paper-cut characters from Danish folk tales to julgranskarameller, which are decorations made of tissue paper and filled with Swedish candy to be eaten after Christmas day. Nov. 4–Jan. 14. American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Ave., Mpls., 612-871-4907

Alexander Ramsey House
The Homecoming: Christmas at the Alexander Ramsey House replicates an 1875 Victorian Christmas, calling back a true old-fashioned, family-oriented holiday. The house is decorated as if the Ramsey family never left. The outside of the mansion is adorned with welcoming evergreen swags and red bows. Inside,  the reception room, library, dining room, parlor, and other gathering spaces are ornamented with the Ramseys’ seasonal artifacts and mementos. The table is set with Mrs. Ramsey’s elegant Haviland china, on which the family ate roasted or boiled pig for Christmas dinner. Candlelight tours are led by guides dressed in Victorian garb who show visitors through the decorated mansion and carriage house. For the first time, visitors may take a nostalgic horse-drawn carriage ride around the property (on selected Saturdays beginning November 25). Another new event is With Pen in Hand, during which the Ramsey letterbox (the inspiration for the holiday décor) is opened. (Call for event dates.) Nov. 24–Jan. 1. Closed Christmas Eve and Day. Reservations are recommended. Alexander Ramsey House, 265 S. Exchange St., St. Paul, 651-296-8760

Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has decorated for Christmas every year for more than fifty years, and never skimps on festive fare. Nine period rooms and the Bell Family Decorative Arts Court are all dolled up with decorations and are reminiscent of holiday homes from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries. This year, there are also tabletop settings of elegant glassware and china sure to inspire ideas for your family’s Christmas dinner table. Glassware, flatware, and dinnerware are from the MIA’s Tiffany, Gorham, and private collections. The multiple trees on display at the museum are hung with decorations from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Take a bus from the institute to the historic Purcell–Cutts home in the Lake of the Isles neighborhood to see additional Prairie School–style Christmas décor in a beautiful urban setting. Nov. 24–Jan. 18. Call for tour times and prices. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls., 612-870-3131