Deck the Hall at Stan Hywet to open Friday

The trees are trimmed, the lights are strung and the hall is decked. 

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens will open its doors for its popular holiday program, Deck the Hall, on Friday.

The long-running event gives the public the chance to see the grand Tudor estate and its grounds decorated for Christmas. 

And decorated it is. 

In the manor house, 20 spaces are decorated, including the music room where a 16-foot tree is flanked by three smaller, but still quite large, trees. They’re hung with white lights, gold ornaments, ribbons and silver icicles. The effect, in the already grand room, is stunning.

“I have a toss up between this [room] and the library,” said Collections Manager Barb Welch when asked what her favorite room is for Deck the Hall. “The library was one of the first ones done, so I had a lot more time to fall in love with [it]. This room was just finished this week. We’ve never had a tree this large in here.”

The library is another showstopper — in a house full of them. The tree is decorated with book pages. Some are crafted into elaborate ornaments. Others wrap around the tree on silver string. 

As eye-catching as the decorations in the music room and library are, they bear little resemblance to the decorations that would have been used in December 1915. That’s when Goodyear co-founder F.A. Seiberling and his family moved in.

“What they would have done back then was more simple and not as glittery, not as glitzy,” Welch said. “They had a lot of paper ornaments.”

Still, there are some spots in the house that have a more historical feel, like the dining room, where the traditional Christmas decor is inspired by Irene Seiberling’s 1923 wedding. Irene, the eldest daughter of F.A. and his wife, Gertrude, was married on Christmas of that year in the music room.

Pop culture meets historic home

Decorating a 64,500-square-foot house and grounds that cover 70 acres is no small task. Welch said the staff began decorating Nov. 4 and finished Nov. 19. The spaces were trimmed by decorators — both professionals and hobbyists — and staff and volunteers.

Tour coordinator Beth Pamula decorated the breakfast room. And once she had her vision, there was no convincing her otherwise.

“People are like, ‘You’re putting Muppets in the room?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, just trust me. Trust me, it’s gonna work. It’ll work. And it did.’”

Thanks to Pamula’s vision, the breakfast room is now an homage to the 1992 film “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” Kermit, Rizzo, Gonzo and Fozzie are all there, dressed just like their characters in the film. (A volunteer made the outfits.) There’s even a small Statler and Waldorf sitting in a box attached to a wreath. Garland hangs across the windows, with rubber chickens tucked in throughout. (They’re actually dog toys, Pamula said.)

For Pamula, choosing the Muppets was a no-brainer.

“I think, even for my age, and even a little bit younger, we grew up with that,” she said. “Even my son, who’s like, 31, that’s what he watched. And the Muppets are just classic.”

The breakfast room isn’t the only space with a pop culture twist. On the sleeping porch on the second floor, a cardboard cutout of Chewbacca stands guard while Baby Yoda climbs a tree decorated with “Star Wars” ornaments. And the room that once belonged to the Seiberlings’ youngest daughter, Virginia, is awash in Barbie. A hot pink tree is decorated with Barbie ornaments and topped with a large glittery “B.” A child-size hot pink Barbie jeep is filled with presents. On the bed sits a vintage Barbie board game.

The decor — and magic — continues outside

While the manor house is the main draw, the grounds are not to be missed during Deck the Hall. The gardens and paths are aglow with 1.4 million lights. The walkway from the house to the conservatory is lit with red, green and gold lights wrapped around metal arches. In the courtyard by the carriage house, a large tree stands in the center, decorated in blue and gold. In the conservatory, the cacti are strung with lights and poinsettias line the walkway.

Jim Urban said this year’s outside lights are the best he’s ever seen at the estate. A volunteer since 1992, Urban has seen a lot of Christmas displays at Stan Hywet.

“I’m a great, big little kid when it comes to outdoor lighting,” he said. “I think this year it’s spectacular.”

Wearing a snowman tie and a black top hat adorned with lights, garland and birds, Urban said he still gives house tours, but he’s “retired” from decorating.

“They don’t want me on ladders, and I don’t want to be on a ladder,” he said.

Even after 32 years of volunteering at Stan Hywet, Urban said there are still new details to notice about the house.

“There’s so much to take in, certainly during the holiday season, he said. “In the evening, the house takes on a different personality. So much, well, I don’t know what it’d be — friendly — but it does take on a different personality in the evening hours.”

Deck the Hall is from 3-8 p.m. on select dates from now through Dec. 30. Tickets are $16-$24 for adults and $7-$11 for youth (ages 3-17). For more information, visit stanhywet.org.