2col Boscobel

Boscobel’s candlelight tours, a Hudson Valley tradition, will be offered December 14–16 with  newly designed tour covering holiday traditions of the last 150 years. —Charles Lyle photo

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MUST RUN 12/7

BOSCOBEL MANSION TO OFFER ANNUAL CANDLELIGHT TOURS w/1 cut

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GARRISON, N.Y. — Boscobel’s candlelight tours, one of the Hudson Valley’s most cherished traditions, will take place on Friday, December 14, through Sunday, December 16, from 5 to 8 pm. Visitors return year after year to experience the elegant 1808 house at 1601 Route 9D, in the soft amber glow of hundreds of candles.

This year, Boscobel presents a newly designed tour where holiday traditions of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries and two generations of family and three eras in Boscobel’s history are depicted. Boscobel was inhabited by the Dyckman and Cruger families in the Nineteenth Century. In the Twentieth Century, Lila Acheson Wallace’s generosity made possible the preservation and restoration of Boscobel. Wallace was co-founder of Reader’s Digest.

The tour will begin with a stroll on the lantern-lit brick walkway leading to the front door of the historic house. Members of the Taghkanic Chorale, will be Christmas carols outside on the portico, on Friday, December 14 and Sunday, December 16.

On the first level of the house, holiday customs will be in the style of the Nineteenth Century, where decorations of holly and ivy, lots of greenery and fruit are accented by glimmering candlelight.

It was traditional in the Nineteenth Century to have a grand entertainment on Twelfth Night. After dancing in the foyer, the dining room would be opened and a lavish display of desserts was presented to the guests. Cakes, tarts, pyramids of confections and a special Twelfth Night cake are displayed on the three-part mahogany Duncan Phyfe table.

The second floor will be adorned with seasonal greenery, flowers and decorations, reflective of the mid-Nineteenth Century or the Victorian era, the time when Eliza Cruger, Mrs Dyckman’s granddaughter and her family lived at Boscobel.

After enjoying the nostalgia of holiday celebrations between 1800 and 1880, visitors are then invited to visit the museum room in the lower level of the house, where decorations will be in the style of the mid-Twentieth Century, the time when Lila Wallace was putting her efforts into saving Boscobel. Also on view will be an exhibit of late Nineteenth Century Christmas cards. At the end of the tour, visitors are invited to enjoy a slice of fruitcake and to toast the season with mulled cider from Boscobel’s Wassail bowl.

Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for children ages 6–14. Children under six are admitted at no charge. Although reservations are not required, tickets for Candlelight Tours will sold in advance and are good for any one of the three evenings of Candlelight. Call Boscobel at 845-265-3638, extension 115, for more information or to purchase tickets in advance.

Boscobel will also highlight its holiday decorations during daytime tours from Friday, December 14, through Saturday, December 31, from 10 am to 3:15 pm, every day except December 18, and Christmas Day. Docents will discuss Christmas traditions and entertaining during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Mulled cider and fruitcake will be served at the end of the tour.

Admission for the daytime tour is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $7 for children ages six to 14. Children under six are admitted at no charge. Boscobel closes for the season on December 31.