Innholdsfortegnelse for Holiday Home 2017 i The Cottage Journal

In this special Holiday Home issue from The Cottage Journal magazine, you’ll discover ideas to make your season merry and bright. Joyful anticipation abounds in preparation for holiday guests. So with all of the season’s gatherings in mind, we have filled our pages with grand inspirational homes dressed to celebrate. Welcoming doorways adorned in greenery and ribbons invite guests into halls of glistening trees laden with heirloom ornaments. Traditions are recaptured as mantels are lavished with garland and candlelight, miniature trees and baubles. The spirit of the season comes alive in each of these featured homes. From vintage chic to French Country Christmas, you’re sure to find a space that inspires your own festive celebrations and unique personal style. Most of all, we hope this season is one shared with…

November and December are a time for holiday entertaining. During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, parties and dinners seem to multiply. For a beautiful table, bring out the old and the new. Gather candlesticks of various sizes and metals, both glass and porcelain plates, and add a dash of greenery and candlelight for a little holiday magic.…

Dr. Donna Dixon loves tradition. Just take a look at the house she and her husband, Dr. Andrew McCown, built in 1999. Though it’s not yet two decades old, it bears the distinctive hallmarks of the timeless Charleston architecture upon which the home’s design was based. Both hailing from South Carolina, the couple fashioned their own version of the quintessential Southern home when they moved to another state. Their unapologetically traditional taste in architecture also shows in their penchant for classic Southern holiday decorations. For the past 12 years, decorator Robina Herman and her crew have transformed the home into a wonderland of Christmas elegance. Beginning in mid-November, the entry is trimmed with luscious garlands and evergreen clusters; the mantels are festooned with twinkling lights, ribbons, and bows; and the…

There’s a crispness in the air as designer Jarinda Wiechman walks a winding path around her client’s property. With her clippers in hand, she is mission-minded, searching for the next natural element that will soon fill this happy home with holiday cheer. So goes the hunting-and-gathering portion of the decorating Jarinda does for a handful of clients each year at Christmastime. The greenery she garners makes its debut as beautiful boughs, inspiring mantel arrangements, and even a gussied-up mailbox. “Don’t be restricted by what you’re accustomed to seeing,” Jarinda says. “Anything is fair game from the yard.” Once greenery turns tired, she advises, simply replace it with a fresh branch. Or, better yet, let it go. “Sometimes you’ll discover a welcome patina to leaves as they dry,” she says. “A…

Christmas means different things to different people, but at the heart of it all, the holiday season has always meant bringing family and friends together. It is this gathering of loved ones that has homeowners Susan and Darby Henley decorating their home before Thanksgiving and leaving the décor up until the new year. This kind of extended decorating calls for serious planning and preparation. Susan and Darby like to throw holiday parties for their combined families and Darby’s business associates. At Thanksgiving, they host both sides of their family for one big party that consists of around 75 to 80 people. After that blowout, they have a Christmas party for Darby’s office. “This quick transition is one of the things that led to early Christmas decorating,” says Susan. And decorating…

In her early 20s, Mary Carol Garrity returned to her hometown of Atchison, Kansas, and decided to open a small gourmet food shop in an old bank. With a suggestion from her sister Judy, they decided to name the shop Nell Hill’s after their maternal grandmother, an early Kansas pioneer. “It didn’t take long to realize I couldn’t make a living selling cheese and crackers, and besides, I was putting on weight,” Mary Carol says with a chuckle. Not giving up, she reconsidered her product and swapped food for furniture, taking Nell Hill’s in a different direction. Mary Carol attended Christmas markets and Junior League shows around the state hoping shoppers would discover Nell Hill’s and drive to Atchison. And drive they did. She packed the store with great stuff…

Even before the boxes of Christmas decorations are pulled from the attic, Jennifer Dent is shopping for gifts. She starts early so she can find the perfect gift but also because she loves wrapping presents. “Each year, I find a new theme using awesome handmade paper, vintage postcards, or a photo of the person instead of a gift card. I may get a little carried away, but I just love doing it,” she says. Jennifer also admits, “Really, my very favorite thing about Christmas, though, is my Christmas card. I start early in the year coming up with an idea.” Jennifer’s holiday cards go far beyond a simple family photo and envelope. In years past, they have included snow-globe frames, View- Masters with photo strips of the year’s highlights, and…

Having family and friends singing carols around the tree during her favorite holiday season is the realization of a childhood dream for Brenda Ransom. Five Christmas trees, a highly photographed “Mr. Claus,” happy children running around, and family singing like angels around the piano are all part of the holiday festivities at the Ransom home. “I just love Christmas. It’s my favorite, favorite holiday,” says Brenda, who knew when she and her husband, Bob, built their home that her enthusiasm for collectibles would entail lots of holiday decorations—so much so that she insisted on a special Christmas closet for storage. The five individually themed trees (six if you include the one Mr. Claus holds while welcoming guests in the expansive foyer of their home) are artificial because the Ransoms put…

Shortly after Halloween, Phyllis Tinsley is already planning for Christmas. Each year’s decorating is a little different than the one before. “You never know what you’re going to do,” Phyllis says. “You just keep decorating until you get it right.” She’s full of ideas, but at her age, Phyllis declares she is not climbing ladders anymore. With help from designer Shelayne Thompson, though, the home is decorated in about two days. Lots of fresh greenery and loads of poinsettias are gathered to display both inside and outside. Although Phyllis would prefer to use all fresh greens, she knows it’s necessary to combine fresh with artificial since she decorates so far in advance. Her parties and gatherings are scheduled throughout the months of November and December. Over the last 25 years,…

In the Deep South, a pristine white Christmas is merely a dream. Nevertheless, style-savvy residents can easily stage the scene themselves with shimmering frosted trees, fresh greenery, and a profusion of warm Southern hospitality. But for Alabama couple Bob and Johnnie Kay Wolf, creating the picture-perfect Christmas seemed to happen quite naturally—once they found the ideal backdrop for their new family home. “We had just three main requirements when we began looking for a place to build,” Johnnie Kay recalls. “We wanted to be close to Bob’s work and our children’s schools, and still have trees and wildlife on the property,” she says. “After searching for more than five years, we finally found our little piece of heaven.” Situated amidst a breathtaking forest setting of tall trees, whispering waters, and…

One of our favorite things about the Christmas season is getting to bring our homes to life by gathering with friends and family. The last thing you want to worry about is the stress of what to make, what to give, or how to decorate. Beat the stress! Enjoy every minute of the holidays with a little help from Christmas Cottage Cookbook (Hoffman Media, 2012), brought to you by the publishers of The Cottage Journal magazine. Ideas abound in this 240-page cookbook packed with more than 150 festive recipes and menus to celebrate the season in all manner of style. A tall and elegant dark chocolate raspberry mousse cake or an apple-glazed crown pork roast will impress any holiday visitor, or try gingerbread scones, pizza rolls with marinara sauce, or…

The holiday welcome at Carolyn Featheringill’s 1939 Colonial-style home begins in the marble-tiled entry where cachepots filled with pink poinsettias frame a painted porcelain Nativity set. Delightful seasonal touches continue into the main hall where a 10-foot-tall tree sparkles at the foot of the graceful staircase. Usually, Carolyn garlands the entire staircase, but last year, inspired by a photo in a magazine, she decided to let the stairway stand on its own. A new tradition was born, with big gold bows accenting the railing and a simple garland and wreath highlighting the Palladian window on the landing. Carolyn, an attorney and retired law professor, credits her late husband, Bill, with the way the house looks today. In 1993, he collaborated with Hank Long of Henry Sprott Long & Associates to…

“I had always looked at homes like this in magazines,” Monica Yeager says, so when her dream home came on the market in 2014, she and husband Jim jumped at the opportunity. The original owners spent a lot of time in Europe, Monica says, and designed the house around their travels to reflect the places they’d been while abroad. The home’s French Country architecture adds a uniquely European flair that the Yeagers marry with modern elements to create a space that feels both fresh and casual. “I think the original owners had a lot of European and French Country [furnishings], but I kind of wanted to mix in some more modern furniture, too, so it kind of has an eclectic look,” Monica says. “The house itself just screams French Country,…

When Dave and Judi Nebergall moved into their elegant home nestled in an upscale suburban neighborhood 16 years ago, they made it a point not to feel influenced by their new surroundings. Instead of opting for a look that felt chic but a bit too contemporary for their tastes, Judi found comfort in classic, sophisticated style that charmed her deeply Southern heart. “I’m very traditional,” Judi says. “I grew up in Mobile, Alabama, so I have Southern roots that go really deep.” Those roots have continued to guide her decorating style year after year. Tastefully layered within the home are troves of antiques, family heirlooms, and unique pieces Judi has acquired throughout the years. “Even though I’ve done interior design work off and on through the years, I don’t go…

From Crackers to Cachepots Pages 23–28 Furniture and décor from Nell Hill’s. Creative Christmas Pages 29–40 Christmas décor by Debra Pharo McCurry. Page 36 Tinsel wreaths from At Home Furnishings. Mirror from Anthropologie. A Tradition of Elegance Pages 41–50 Architectural design by Hank Long, Henry Sprott Long & Associates. Interior designs by Sallie Aman, Ruby Ansley Interiors Inc. Tree and flower decorations by Jill Garmon. Pages 49–50 Silver plateau and food cloche from M.S. Rau Antiques. China cabinet and huntboard from Clements Antiques & Interiors of Florida Inc. A Season for Splendor Pages 51–62 Christmas décor by Robina Herman. O Christmas Trees! Page 72 Christmas china by Pfaltzgraff in the Yuletide pattern. French Country Christmas Pages 73–82 Interior design by Jan Ware, Jane Ware Designs. Homegrown Holidays Pages 83–90 Christmas…