Holiday Grandeur: The Mansion’s Toys and Trains Story

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum kicks off the Holiday Season the day after Thanksgiving with its traditional display of trees and decorations and a new exhibit, Holiday Grandeur: The Mansion’s Toys and Trains Story curated by Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, beginning at noon on November 27, 2015.

The exhibit will include a guided tour of the Museum’s historic period rooms displaying Victorian traditions with holiday vignettes and decorations inspired by the many festivities celebrated while the Mansion was a private residence. The exhibit will feature trees adorned with historic decorations and lights, mantles festooned with period greens and fruits, and selections of vintage toys and games that once delighted children on Christmas morning.

In the Library, a special highlight of antique trains will pay tribute to railroad magnate LeGrand Lockwood along with a rarely seen 1872 painting by G. O. Widner from the private collection of Allen and Peggy Katz. In 1872, G. O. Widner, a New York sign painter and fireman who worked for the railroad, created this large 4'x 4' oil painting of The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. This line, which resulted from LeGrand Lockwood's merging of The Lake Shore and Michigan railroads, was essential to westward railroad expansion. 

 

The Mansion will also display a dazzling Designer Show House of Holiday Decorations featuring traditional trees decorated by renowned interior designers Victoria Vandamm of Vandamm Interiors, Linda Fontaine of Linda Fontaine Design and Gail Ingis-Claus. Red silk garlands will drape the grand Victorian staircase, embellished with apple and cranberry swags, red amaryllis and gold accented magnolia leaves, beautifully designed by Danna DiElsi, owner of The Silk Touch in Norwalk, CT. 

The exhibit, Holiday Grandeur: The Mansion’s Toys and Trains Storywas made possible in part by generous loans from the Stamford Museum and Nature Center and private collectors Allen and Peggy Katz and Mark Tobias, NETTE Auctions. The Museum’s 2015 cultural and educational programs are made possible in part by generous funding from LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; and The LMMM Distinguished Benefactors: Klaff’s, The Xerox Foundation, The Maurice Goodman Foundation, and Aegis Technology Partners.

Tour hours: Wed.-Sun., noon, 1, 2, and 3 p.m. General Admission: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and children and young adults, ages 8-18, $6. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark. For more information on schedules and programs please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799.