Morven glows with Christmas trees that celebrate Princeton
By: Hilary Parker
A trip to Morven Museum and Garden’s "Festival of Trees" mansion is like walking into a Norman Rockwell painting, complete with old-fashioned sleighs and teddy bears, big red bows and garland-trimmed banisters.
"We want it to be a heart-warming Christmas," says Martha Wolf, executive director of the museum. By placing the holiday display in the context of New Jersey’s history, the seasonal celebration offers a new take on the festival of trees concept. "It’s a double dose," she says. "You get history and holidays."
Each of Morven’s 13 galleries, including those on the second floor never before open to the public, is home to a thematic tree created by a local business or organization. The museum organized the festival as a way to celebrate the holiday and also to establish its place firmly in the Princeton tradition.
"It’s a way to help Morven better acquaint itself with organizations and businesses," says Ms. Wolf, explaining that after Westminster Choir College of Rider University collaborated with Morven on the festival, their holiday music will fill the Garden Room with seasonal sounds, and the Morven gift shop now stocks the college’s CDs.
A first stop in the garden room will treat visitors to the "Spring into Christmas" tree by Stony Brook Gardens. Decorated with irises, wisteria and roses like the ones grown at Morven, the tree is anything but typical. Strung with garlands of pink pearls and topped with a brightly-colored peacock, the tree is perfectly located in the bay window of the room against a backdrop of Morven’s impressive grounds.
Walking up the steps and through the historic halls to the parlor offers a view of "A Very Beary Christmas" by Hamilton Jewelers. In a room filled with furniture on loan from the New Jersey State Museum, the tree is decorated with old-fashioned teddy bears adorned with the finest of jewels.
Just down the hall is the "Come Sail Away" tree by The Princeton Packet. The blue and white lights illuminate the sailboats and lighthouse ornaments, nestled in the boughs of the tree among blue and silver balls. Santa has visited this tree early and packages of all shapes and sizes, wrapped in recent issues of The Princeton Packet, surround its base.
At the end of the hall, visitors can journey to "The Golden Age of Travel" by The Nassau Inn. Miniature locomotive cars from the North Pole Express share their boughs with golden baggage trunks and glittering passports, and old-time Nassau Inn ornaments depict cozy winter scenes. Instead of an angel perched atop this tree, perfect for fans of "Polar Express," the finishing touch is Santa Claus, riding in a bright red biplane.
J. McLaughlin lends a fashionable and oh-so-Princeton touch to the festival with its tree, "A Very Preppy Christmas." In keeping with the company’s clothing lines, the tiny sweaters, jackets and bags that decorate the tree were specially commissioned and handmade. The tree occupies a prime position in the Sally Foss Hill Gallery surrounded by the Legacy of Leadership collection. Portraits of some of New Jersey’s most influential leaders hang throughout the room, offering an introduction to the history of Morven and its role in New Jersey’s history.
From Richard Stockton, Morven’s builder and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, to Helen Hamilton Stockton, née Shields, the first to seek to preserve Morven and the last of the Stocktons to live at the mansion, the display also includes information about the governors who lived at Morven.
Upstairs, the "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" tree by The Minis of Princeton will soon have visitors humming the familiar holiday carol. Using the French marotte as inspiration, the group handmade a number of miniature angels wearing silver hats.
Through the door is the Stony Brook Garden Club’s "Through the Eyes of a Child" tree. Old-fashioned holiday ice skates and sleighs will remind visitors of holiday favorites they might have forgotten, like "Hans Brinker" and "The Little Engine That Could." No one will forget how much they loved Raggedy Ann, though, when they see her sitting on top of the tree.
The delightfully simple "Paper Christmas" by Christine Robb and Liane Martin is an elegant take on the season of giving. Brightly colored gift bags and presents hang throughout the branches of the tree, and its base is surrounded by colorful gifts wrapped in ribbons and bows.
Off to the side, in a little nook of a room, is the Garden Gate Garden Club’s "An Old-Fashioned Christmas." An old-time doll sits next to a sleigh carrying teddy bears and train cars in front of the tree, topped with a bow and decorated with poinsettias and baby’s breath. The scene evokes memories of hot mulled cider and simpler times, when families gathered to play board games and music as children happily played with their newest toys.
Visitors might be tempted to revisit their childhoods and push the little train around the track which surrounds "Reindeer Depot," a tree by Martha and Milly Flower Design. Big red bows and pine cones lend holiday cheer to the tree and the mantel which they adorn.
"Make a Joyful Noise," the Westminster Choir College’s tree, is perhaps the most personalized of the trees. Musical instrument ornaments, such as golden trumpets and violins, hang beside photographs of Westminster’s conductors and performers. The tree is in the East Wing Study that contains gifts made to Morven.
While the entire house is filled with Christmas spirit, the walls and rooms are deliberately not-quite-full, waiting for people to donate perfect New Jersey treasures treasures like the 1865 oil painting of the Stockton family that descendents recently bequeathed to the museum after discovering it in the basement of their Pennsylvania house.
This treasure hangs in the East Wing Chamber, next to the Garden Club of Princeton Contemporary Garden Club’s "Partridge in a Pear Tree." White lights accent the birds and pears throughout the tree, surrounded by ribbons.
The final tree in the festival is Morven’s own "Christmas Past." The dining room is home to the dried-flower tree, decorated in the Williamsburg model, and offers a perfect finish to the festival.
By offering a fresh holiday take on history, the festival celebrates Morven’s historic roots in Princeton and its traditions, and starts a new tradition, as well a trip to Morven’s "Festival of Trees" is sure to be a seasonal favorite in Christmas’ future.
Morven’s "Festival of Trees" is on view Dec. 7-Jan. 8, Wednesday.-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Closed Dec. 24-25, Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Tickets: $10, $9 seniors, $5 children over 8. Reservations are required. Enjoy holiday music at Morven: The Trenton Children’s Chorus and Princeton High School Choir, Dec. 10, 2 p.m.; Princeton Girlchoir, Dec. 11, 3 p.m.; Peace of Mind Gospel Group, Dec. 17, 3 p.m.; Westminster a cappella group, Dec. 18, 3 p.m.
On the Web: www.morven.org. (609) 924-8144.

