A MAGICAL CHRISTMAS
A Magical Christmas
Decking the halls the old-world way
By Deborah Salomon
Photographs by John Gessner
God rest ye merry gentlemen let nothing you dismay.
Old fashioned wreathes and trees and lights will never go away.
In fact, a goodly amount may be found at Kristen Moracco’s historic home in Weymouth, where Mom, Dad, three young children and two dogs commence decorating in a decidedly traditional style in early November. The halls are decked well before Tom Turkey, or an appropriate alternative, appears on a dining room table set with Yule-themed dishes.
Christmas decorations, like fashion, follow fads. Some families prefer a Victorian Christmas. Other celebrants go mod, expressed in silver and blue. Kitchen trees can drip macaroni and hard candy garlands while outside, the hot item is a projection device that showers the house with colored stars.
But nothing enhances traditional Christmas décor more than a suitable backdrop. Kristen grew up with four siblings in a large, comfortable Colonial in a New York City suburb. Happy memories of decorating with her mother provide inspiration. Being a Realtor specializing in historic properties and a member of The Pines Preservation Guild adds context.
About that backdrop: Rosewood, this military family’s 5,000-square-foot home on a prime 2-acre Weymouth lot in Southern Pines, was built in the 1920s by engineer Louis Lachine, who assisted society architect Aymar Embry II in developing the Weymouth enclave. Lachine, recognizing a moneymaker, bought land and built 10 houses on his own. Rosewood, the most impressive of them, was named for its first occupant, the Robert Rose family of Binghamton, New York. Its dark beams and window frames suggest the Arts and Crafts style popular into the 1930s and now enjoying a resurgence.
Renovations accomplished by previous owners, including a magnificent kitchen island of bowling-alley proportions, provides an authentic backdrop for Kristen’s whole-house transformation, which starts with multiple trees, including one in each child’s room.
Professionals install outdoor lighting, but the family accomplishes most interior placements. “It’s fun to be the magic maker . . . a big, important job,” Kristen says.
The main tree, as expected, stands between the fireplace and stairway, encircled by an electric train. Almost as massive is the master bedroom tree. After struggling with live ones, “I was forced to join the fake tree club,” Kristen admits. But ornaments are deeply personal, often reflecting family travels: a Scottish thistle; a soldier; a red telephone box and bus from London. Some are estate sale finds. Santa regularly leaves an ornament for the family collection. Other precious mementoes include a needlepoint stocking made by Kristen’s grandmother, and her mother’s angel collection, part of a dining room spread devoted to angels.
“My mom made Christmas so magical,” she recalls.
Last Christmas, Kristen tried something different: a pasta bar with assorted sauces, meats and veggies for a Christmas dinner attended by 10. “Much more fun,” she says.
Recently, Kristen was given a Christmas village, complete with moving ice skaters, which sprawls across a long table under a portrait of St. Nick that even their 10-year-old accepts as real. The result is a wonderland, full of music, lights, pine boughs and surprises where the family gathers around the fireplace after dinner and listens to Nat King Cole, among others, singing traditional carols.
Then, on Dec. 26, after six weeks of total immersion, Kristen comes up for air and, with a sigh, out come the boxes.
