Martin Mitchell Mansion is a featured home on the Cup of Cheer housewalk
The Martin Mitchell Mansion, built in 1883 by Naperville businessman George Martin, is the crown jewel of Naper Settlement. So it's no wonder that the Naperville Garden Club chose to decorate it for the holidays in rich jewel tones of hunter green and garnet. The Mansion is one of four beautifully decorated homes on the Naperville Garden Club's Cup of Cheer Housewalk that will be held on Thursday, Dec. 3 (preview day) and Friday, Dec. 4. Tickets are available at www.napervillegardenclub.org.
Bonnie Bula, the club's historian, heads up this year's Mansion decorating committee and the planning has been underway for almost a year. The decorations reflect the time period of a century ago, but still retain the opulence of the Edwardian era in the formal parlor, dining room and front hall.
"Through our decorating, we are giving an impression of what the house might have looked like in 1915, especially in the family parlor," Bula said.
Although the United States remained neutral as the war started in 1914 in Europe, when a German submarine sank the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, 1,198 people died, 128 of whom were U.S. citizens. The U.S. also began to feel the repercussions of the British blockades, though reserved stocks of European ornaments were available until 1916.
In Naperville, Edward Mitchell and his wife, Caroline Martin Mitchell, her sister, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Martin, and their brother George Martin III, would have closely followed the progress of the "Great War," as it was called, in newspapers and magazines. The family would have celebrated the holidays together in their beautiful home on the hill.
The rich color scheme developed by the Garden Club is befitting the prosperous Naperville family that owned a limestone quarry and brick and tile works. The Christmas tree was chosen because of its widely spaced branches, characteristics of trees available at the time. Even though the house would have had electricity, candles were still the choice for illumination on the tree. Ornaments crafted from German scrap, spun glass and tinsel wire were still available. Baskets and cones of papier maché and antique cardboard spindles covered in felt would have held small fruits, candies and flowers.
Glass bead and tinsel garland add elegance to the décor. Evergreen fronds adorned with pine cones and embellished with ribbons and flowers, spiral up the intricately hand-carved staircase to the second floor. The arched doorways into the rooms feature honeycombed paper bells and garland that were featured in advertisements of the time period. A charming mistletoe sphere is suspended above each bell.
Naper Settlement's Chief Curator Louise Howard said, "We are grateful for the Naperville Garden Club's support through the years and enjoy seeing the historic decorations they have created."
For Bula, this year represents the third time she has been in charge of the holiday decorations for the Mansion, the other years being 1999 and 2003.
"Decorating the mansion required research, which I enjoyed, and the staff has been very helpful," she said. "It's fun and a real treat to imagine how the house may have looked at Christmas a hundred years ago."
The Mansion decorating committee includes Cora Galgano, Althea Grossweiner, Jan Hornstra, Helen Kravchuk, Nanette Kurzydym and Latha Nemani.
Naper Settlement also houses the Naperville Garden Club archives including meeting minutes, programs, scrapbooks and photographs, which were donated to the collection in 2009. Cups and saucers from nearly 30 years of Cup of Cheer events are also part of the permanent museum collection.
About Naper Settlement
Naper Settlement is a nationally-recognized, award-winning outdoor history museum set on 12 magnificent acres in the heart of Naperville at 523 S. Webster St., Naperville, IL. Our grounds are where history comes to play and community comes to connect. For more information, visit www.napersettlement.org or call (630) 420-6010.