New England Holiday House Tours | Design Inspiration From the Yankee Archives

From vintage to Vermont, here’s a look back at some of our favorite New England holiday house tours from the Yankee archives.

By Aimee Tucker

Dec 15 2021

The dining-room chandelier with a vintage-inspired ornament garland from her Belmont store, Marmalade (shopmarmalade.com).

Photo Credit : Joe Keller

Love your Christmas cheer in the form of holiday decor? Whether you prefer vintage-inspired elements, swaths of natural greenery, or the simplicity of a few carefully hung stockings, we think these highlights from Yankee’s most recent New England holiday house tours will help put you in the seasonal decorating spirit.

New England Holiday House Tours:
Design Inspiration From the Yankee Archives

ECLECTIC CHRISTMAS: Belmont, Massachusetts

In 2014, artist Leigh Standley showed us how she transformed her two-story Belmont, Massachusetts, condo (spanning the top floors of a 1910 Victorian) into a funky combination of vintage decorations paired with updated holiday pieces. “I think having all of one or the other looks as though you haven’t spent much time with it,” she said. “I never want my house to look as though I bought all the decorations at one store and had it assembled in my home.”

A chalkboard frame created from old bed slats helps spread holiday cheer and display greeting cards. — A chalkboard framed with old bed slats helps spread holiday cheer.
*Photo Credit : Keller + Keller*

Leigh's advice? "Have something festive in every room (but not on every surface)." — Standley’s advice: “Have something festive in every room — but not on every surface.”
*Photo Credit : Keller + Keller*

See more of Standley’s holiday home decor in the Yankee feature “Welcome Home.”

Get Our FREE Yankee Food Award Gift Guide!

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS: Providence, Rhode Island

In 2012, Rhode Island blogger and antiques hunter Christine Chitnis shared crafty highlights and how-to’s at her Providence home, which was decorated with a collection of vintage ornaments and wreaths with lots of mercury glass accents. We described the overall effect as “homespun holiday with a retro twist.” Feeling like creating something yourself? You can follow Chitnis’s instructions to make your own button garland, velvet ribbon ornaments, and paper and thread spool topiaries.

If you can thread a needle, you can make this charming button garland for your fireplace mantel. The felt and yarn wreath takes a bit longer, but the monochromatic mix of shapes and textures makes it a worthy project.
*Photo Credit : Ira Garber*

Mercury glass accents and a Christmas terrarium that's perfect for non-crafters adds cheerful holiday color to a hall table. — Mercury glass accents and a Christmas terrarium that’s perfect for non-crafters add holiday color to a hall table.
*Photo Credit : Ira Garber*

See more of Chitnis’s holiday home decor in the Yankee feature “All Is Merry and Bright.”

COZY CHRISTMAS: Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

In 2013, artist and best-selling writer Susan Branch gave us a peek at an irresistible world of holiday magic in her 1849 Martha’s Vineyard home. Already known for her fondness for color and charm, Branch was inspired by the Christmas season to truly deck the halls. “You have to have whimsy at Christmas,” she said. A pristinely decorated home “looks good, but it’s not real. Decorating really has to come from the heart.”

Susan Branch's Martha's Vineyard home is dressed for the holidays. — Susan Branch’s Martha’s Vineyard home, ready for the holidays.
*Photo Credit : Nat Rea*

In the dining room, sparkly decorations, antique English china, and vintage linen napkins reflect the joy of the holiday. — Antique English china, vintage linen napkins, and champagne corks repurposed as placecard holders reflect the joy of the season, while a white bedspread serves as a holiday tablecloth.
*Photo Credit : Nat Rea*

Supplies, memorabilia, and crafts fill Susan's work table, dressed up for the holidays with a simple garland sign. — Supplies, memorabilia, and crafts on Branch’s work table, dressed up for the holidays with a simple garland sign.
*Photo Credit : Nat Rea*

See more of Branch’s holiday home decor, plus recipes for sugared fruit and cranberry jam, in the Yankee feature “At Home with the Queen of Cozy.”

CULINARY CHRISTMAS: Scarborough, Maine

Having built a mini restaurant empire in Portland, culinary couple Steve and Michelle Corry like to keep their holiday decorating and hosting simple, with an emphasis on the edible — including what comes out of their spectacular outdoor oven. Our 2017 tour of their Scarborough, Maine, home showed how putting the right amount of effort in just the right places could provide the ideal Christmas retreat for busy restaurateurs.

Maine’s biggest salt marsh provides the scenic backdrop for Steve and Michelle Corry’s wide-open kitchen at their Scarborough home. — Maine’s biggest salt marsh provides the scenic backdrop for the Corrys’ wide-open kitchen at their Scarborough home, ready for the holidays with a cheerful table runner, greenery, and candle-lit lanterns.
*Photo Credit : Mark Fleming | Styling by Janice Dunwoody*

Built to Steve’s specifications by Nate Libby’s Masonry, this oven can be used as anything from a smoker to a natural convection oven to an impressive outdoor fireplace. — Flanked with winterberry, the oven makes for an impressive outdoor entertaining spot.
*Photo Credit : Mark Fleming | Styling by Janice Dunwoody*

Holiday cheer at the Corry household. — Festive stockings and twinkly garland light up the living room.
*Photo Credit : Mark Fleming | Styling by Janice Dunwoody*

See more of Steve and Michelle Corry’s holiday home decor in the Yankee feature “When Food Is Your Life.”

COLORFUL CHRISTMAS: Leyden, Massachusetts

At Christmas, designer Kristin Nicholas’s 1751 white clapboard Cape in western Massachusetts becomes a winter wonderland of shimmering color and sparkling light. Decor elements spotted during our 2015 tour included embroidered pillows, layered textiles, pom-pom garland, vintage linens, and mix-and-match pottery — all with lots and lots of color.

New England Holiday House Tours | Design Inspiration — Nicholas uses leftover yarn from her family’s flock of 300 sheep to make festive pom-pom decorations. We love the hand-knit stockings, too.
*Photo Credit : Joe Keller*

Lanterns and a birchbark Christmas village help brighten the already lively living room. — Lanterns and a birchbark Christmas village brighten the already lively living room.
*Photo Credit : Joe Keller*

See more of Nicholas’s holiday home decor in the Yankee feature “Merry and Bright.”

VERMONT CHRISTMAS: Dorset, Vermont

Is the Green Mountain State the “most Christmas-y” place in the country? New York Times best-selling author Ellen Stimson thinks so, and she proved it to us during our 2016 visit to her 1838 farmhouse in Dorset, Vermont. There, the holiday greenery goes up the first weekend in December, and the overall effect is a cozy Vermont Christmas at its finest.

Stockings really are hung by the chimney with care.
*Photo Credit : Keller + Keller*

Hardly traditional, the purple foyer “really works at Christmas—all that mercury glass cozied up to the purple and red.” — Hardly traditional, the purple foyer “really works at Christmas — all that mercury glass cozied up to the purple and red,” Stimson said.
*Photo Credit : Keller + Keller*

“Our whole lives are on that tree,” says Stimson, who determined where the tree would go before they even bought the house (Oscar approves). — “Our whole lives are on that tree,” said Stimson, who determined where the tree would go before they even bought the house (Oscar approved).
*Photo Credit : Keller + Keller*

See more of Stimson’s holiday home decor, plus her family recipe for Slovak nut roll, in the Yankee feature “A Vermont Family Christmas.”

Know of any New England holiday house tours we should take? Let us know!

This post was first published in 2017 and has been updated.

SEE MORE:
Best Christmas Celebrations in New England
Best Places to See Christmas Lights in New England
15 Classic Christmas Cookies From the Yankee Archives

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker is Yankee Magazine’s Home Editor and the Senior Digital Editor of NewEngland.com. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.

More by Aimee Tucker