Travel: Ohio and Indiana mansions deck the halls with holiday lights and decor

Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays – especially when that home is a mansion.

Although most of us lack a mansion of our own, several large estates in the region are now public venues, open to visitors and decorated for the holidays with a plethora of lights, ornaments and yuletide gewgaws to make the season bright.

Winterlights

Winterlights at the Gardens at Newfields in Indianapolis celebrates the season with more than 1.5 million lights decorating the grounds that surround the Lilly House, a French-influenced mansion built in 1907 and later purchased by Josiah Lilly Jr., president of pharmaceutical-maker Eli Lilly and Company.

During Winterlights, the house will be filled with holiday cheer – and a variety of elegant handmade decorations.

Outside, a Landscape of Lights dances to music from "The Nutcracker," and winter wind whistles through the cold beauty of the Ice Storm Walk.

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Warmth, though, is just a few steps away in the form of Sugar Plum Snow Day, a new spiced cider made in collaboration with the local Ash & Elm Cider Co. (How’s that for posh?)

Hot apple cider, cocoa and sweet treats will also be available along with Sun King Brewing’s Electric Reindeer brown ale.

Local Girl Scouts will also host a make-your-own-s’mores station in the gardens.

Visitors can also view the gardens’ new sculptures, "Big Piñata" by the Happy Rebels Art Collective based in Mexico; and "Astraeus," by local artists Owens + Crawley. "Astraeus" is located between the Lilly House and Wintermarket, where guests will find a variety of unique ornaments and locally produced handmade gifts.

Admission begins at $29 for adults and $22 for students ages 6-17. Advance purchase is required. For more information or tickets, visit discovernewfields.org.

'Gracious Gatherings'

This year’s holiday celebration at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron is themed "Gracious Gatherings" and will offer the look of a traditional Christmas – plus a bit of yuletide whimsy.

The Stan Hywet Manor House is the former home of F.A. Seiberling, his wife Gertrude and their seven children. F.A. Seiberling co-founded the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

For "Gracious Gatherings," the manor house will be filled with 30 decorated trees and feature the holiday dresses of Gertrude and the Seiberling girls.

The Music Room will feature a traditional red, green and gold holiday decor and highlight Gertrude’s musical talents, while a more fanciful note will be struck on the West Porch, which will be filled with animals in formal attire, gnomes enjoying a bubble bath and a woodland Santa.

Outdoors, the garden and grounds will be decorated with 1 million lights, including a choreographed dancing light display called "Dazzle in the Great Garden."

Visitors can purchase freshly baked gingerbread; hot cookies, pretzels and cocoa; and beer and wine.

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Holiday gift items will also be available at Stan Hywet’s Molly’s Shop.

Admission begins at $20 for adults and $9 for youth ages 3-17. Tickets should be purchased in advance. For more information or tickets, visit stanhywet.org.

Christmas at Kingwood

For the holidays, Kingwood Center Gardens in Mansfield will host its annual Christmas at Kingwood celebration, featuring a lavishly decorated Kingwood Hall, a French Provincial-style mansion built in the 1920s.

The mansion was once the home of Charles Kelley King, chairman of the Ohio Brass Company.

The gardens surrounding Kingwood Hall also will be richly ornamented and will include an outdoor trail of lights and a festive community tree walk.

Christmas at Kingwood also will feature several special events including visits from Santa’s reindeer Dec. 9-10; a Christmas model train display Dec. 15-17; and a visit from Santa himself on Dec. 16 and 17.

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Tickets for Christmas at Kingwood evenings are $8, free for those 12 and younger, and require advance purchase.

During the holiday season, Kingwood Center also will be open for daytime garden strolls, as well as shopping and dining at the site’s Garden & Gift Shops and Gateway Cafe, with no registration required.

For more information, a complete schedule and ticket information, visit kingwoodcenter.org.

Steve Stephens is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Email him at sjstephensjr@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Holiday displays open to public at Ohio and Indiana mansions