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This holiday season, you can take a tour of a more than 100-year-old mansion with some pretty impressive Christmas decorations.
Built in 1886, the Stetson Mansion is the largest and most spectacular "Gilded Age" residence ever built in Florida before 1900 according to its website.
It's a private residence that is lived in, but welcomes guests this time of year with over the top elegant holiday decorations.
The top 10 winners in the category Best Holiday Historic Home Tour are as follows:
Graceland - Memphis
Wildwood Manor House - Toledo, Ohio
The Stetson Mansion - Deland, Fla.
Filoli Historic House and Garden - Woodside, Calif.
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens - Akron, Ohio
Meadow Brook Hall - Rochester, Mich.
Brucemore - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Glessner House - Chicago
The Mount - Lenox, Mass.
Webb Deane Stevens Museum - Wethersfield, Conn.
A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote.
Congratulations to all these winning historic homes!
You’d never think the extravagant decorations at the Stetson Mansion could be the work of one man. It takes about two solid months, but owner JT Thompson transforms the Gilded Age villa (former home of famed hatmaker John Stetson) into a be-ribboned wonderland. All told, there are around 18 Christmas trees, 24 Nativity scenes, and no partridges but surprisingly several peacocks, a nod to Stetson’s love for the showy birds.
If you’re in need of a little Old Florida this holiday season, look no further than the holiday tour at Stetson Mansion in DeLand, Fla. This enchanted place offers some of the most elaborate Christmas decorations in the state. Often handmade and rarely repeated, the 1886 High Victorian style “Gilded Age” mansion is on the National Registry of Historic Places. And get this: The Stetson Mansion has one of the first-ever Christmas trees with illuminated electric lights. Of course, that’s what you get when Thomas Edison is your close friend.
The best Holiday Home Tour in Florida and a 10Best in the nation, according to USA Today, runs through Jan. 15 in Florida’s most historic home, the Stetson Mansion.
The privately owned High Victorian mansion was built in 1886 for Florida’s first snowbird, John B. Stetson, the famed hat-maker. The largest, most opulent, and most technologically advanced home ever built in Florida before 1900 was one of the first homes in the world designed and built with Stetson friend Thomas Edison’s electricity, and the first to use Edison electric Christmas tree lights in Florida.
This holiday season, 12,000 visitors from all over the world are expected to enjoy guided tours of the mansion during a 60-day event, which has a $1.5 million economic impact on DeLand and West Volusia.
DeLAND, Fla. – For the past nine years, the owners of the iconic Stetson Mansion in DeLand have been decorating it for Christmas tours.
The mansion, which was built in 1886 by famed cowboy hat maker John B. Stetson, sits on 2.3 acres of land and includes a small schoolhouse.
The current owner, J.T. Thompson, uses his imagination to decorate 10 rooms with the Christmas spirit and he also pays tribute to the Stetson family with several decorative peacocks.
Craving an escape from winter weather? Head to Daytona Beach for a range of holiday events and holiday spectaculars. Whether you are in the mood for the dreamlike experience of Christmas lights, a celebration that takes a step back in time or a jolly holiday parade, plenty of fun Christmas activities await in Daytona Beach! And with other Florida holiday experiences, such as Nights of Lights in St. Augustine and the fun spectacle of Surfing Santas in Cocoa Beach, so close (less than an hour drive) there’s even more reason to head to Daytona Beach…
