The 1860s Hunter-Dawson historic home in New Madrid is bringing Christmas back in time with its annual Christmas Candlelight Open House from 5:30–8:30 PM on December 13–14.
The free, public event will have the home decorated with live trees and greenery, oil lamps, and candles. It will also have tour guides dressed in period attire providing information about the house as people visit. While tours are available for purchase at different points of the year, this is the only time the home is open at night.
“People can just walk through and take as long as they want and look at everything and ask questions and just enjoy the sights and smells of the holidays,” says Vicki Jackson, superintendent of the home. “That’s the biggest comment we get is that it smells like Christmas because it’s all that fresh greenery.”
The home, a 15-room antebellum mansion, was built by William and Amanda Hunter in the 1860s. They lived in the home until about the 1960s; much of the family’s original furniture is still on display.
“There are a lot of people in the community who make it part of their holiday tradition. We see the same faces every year,” Vicki says. “There’s one particular dad and daughter in town, this will be their 42nd year of celebrating this event together.”
For more information about the open house, call the site at 573-748-7102. For other tour days and their fees, visit here.
For more Missouri events, check out our “events” tab on our website by clicking here.
All photos courtesy of Vicki Jackson.
