MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season from ageekdaddy.com

CRANBROOK HOUSE HOLIDAY SPLENDOR

We got into the holiday spirit with a visit to the historic Cranbrook House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to see it decorated for Christmas. Designed by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn this English Tudor-style was built in 1908 for the family of a newspaper mogul. It is the oldest surviving manor home in Metro Detroit. The mansion is now a centerpiece of the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes an art museum, science center and college preparatory academies.

Annually in December, the Cranbrook House is opened to the public for one weekend to showcase it decorated for Christmas. Visitors to this ticketed can take self-guided tours of the historic home enjoying its ambience decked out with Christmas trees, garland, and wreaths. Plus there is a chance to get a family photograph with Santa Claus. This year's Holiday Splendor event took place December 6 - 8. Proceeds from tickets to this fundraiser support the preservation of this National Historic Landmark.



Based upon the jolly good time we had at the Cranbrook House Holiday Splendor event, I highly recommend making it part of your holiday festivities next year. Visit housegardens.cranbrook.edu or call 248-645-3149 in November to get specific Holiday Splendor dates and times to mark on your calendar. Especially, if you have young children at home because Cranbrook House provides an exceptional Santa Claus Sighting experience.

Mrs. Claus greets families as they wait to see Santa and get kids to fill out wish lists helping parents get some clues for present ideas and encouraging the children to chat about the gifts they want. If you don't have your holiday shopping all done yet this can be very helpful!

Situated in the picturesque library of the Cranbrook House, not only does this event provide a grand backdrop for photographs with Santa but he also provides a lot of interaction and personal attention to the kids that visit. A very nice opportunity to get a wonderful picture for your family's Christmas card or a memorable photo for a child's scrapbook.

During our visit Santa really chatted us up and expressed a genuine interest in each of the children that visited him. Only one family is brought into the grand room where he is located at a time so it feels like a private moment and there is no sense of rush because of a crowd surrounding you like is often the case during a visit with a Mall Santa. A bunch of digital pictures are taken and mailed to you so there is no pressure to purchase an expensive photo package to capture the occasion. Also they don't mind if you pull out your own camera to take a few shots of your own. With hat in mind, the Santa Sighting tickets during the Holiday Splendor event are a real bargain.

After taking some posed pictures and talking with children about what gifts they would like for Christmas, Santa then has the kids sign a book pledging to stay on the Nice List for another year. I thought that was a nice touch! The only regret I have from the experience is that we didn't bring my son and daughter when they were younger and probably would have been more into the moment. Don't miss out on this experience if you have young children looking forward to meeting Santa at Christmastime!

As we left Santa handed each of us some special glasses to wear. Donning these lenses transforms the lights on Christmas trees and other holiday decorations into shiny gingerbread men. Not only was it fun to explore the Cranbrook House seeing the special effects of these glasses throughout it but they also worked at home on our own Christmas decorations. We enjoyed relaxing in our family room after our Cranbrook House visit, sipping eggnog and enjoying the view of our Christmas tree twinkling with gingerbread men.

After spending some time with Santa Claus, we enjoyed walking around the Cranbrook House taking in the festive atmosphere. Entering this historic home is like stepping into a Charles Dickens novel. The holiday decorations compliment the antiques, artwork and architecture of the Cranbrook House providing a festive vibe to the place. In addition to the library, visitors can also explore a variety of rooms on the first floor of the manor house.

Visitors can wander through a Reception Hall paved in Moravian tiles that was originally used for entertaining guests and imagine being at a holiday gathering when the place was home to a vibrant family. The home office has a stately fireplace and display of artwork picked up by the Booth family during a South American expedition. The Sunset Room was laid out for a tea party. Two of our favorite rooms though were the Dining Room and Oak Room.

The Dining Room was decorated with a Chronicles of Narnia theme. A bust of Aslan guards the room's fireplace. A frosty looking Christmas Tree represents the Witch from the first book in the C.S. Lewis series of novels. Turkish delight was even placed upon the dining room table.

The Oak Room was filled with a ceramic Christmas Village circled by a model train. This isn't any ordinary toy train though. It is a classic Lionel Train from the 1930s covered in 18-karat gold plating. Toy enthusiasts and train hobbyists as well as kids of all ages will be delighted to get a close up look at this amazing locomotive. Beyond seeing Santa, watching this toy train race around the tracks laid out in the Oak Room was a highlight of our self-guided tour of the Cranbrook House.

Marvel in the architectural details of this magnificent estate, enjoy cheerful holiday decorations and have yourself a Merry Christmas by partaking in the Holiday Splendor of the historic Cranbrook House. This holiday fundraiser to help maintain and preserve this splendid place absolutely gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval. To learn more about this places or other events taking place here throughout the year, go to housegardens.cranbrook.edu

CRANBROOK HOLIDAY SPLENDOR

Thanks Cranbrook House for inviting my family to be your guests at this event

The historic Cranbrook House will be offering self-guided tours of this elegant English Tudor mansion constructed for wealthy newspaper moguls in 1908 by the renowned Detroit architect Albert Kahn. This former estate of the Scripps Booth family is now preserved as part of the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes a campus of college preparatory schools, an art museum and science center. The marvelous gardens surrounding the Cranbrook House are a favorite place for my family to visit for leisurely summer strolls and we are excited to see what the interior looks like when the building is open to the public from December 6 - 8, 2019  for self-guided tours of the manor while it is decorated for Christmas.

Witness the historic Cranbrook House in all its holiday splendor as you walk through the estate's rooms decorated with a plethora of Christmas Trees and other festive decorations. Toy lovers of all ages will want to check out the unique gold Lionel Train that will be rolling around a track.  A walk through this stately mansion in its holiday splendor is like stepping into the pages of a beautifully illustrated children's Christmas picture book.

General admission tickets to the Holiday Splendor Stroll at the historic Cranbrook House are $15 in advance / $20 at the door for adults and teenagers. Children 5 to 10 years old are $10 each. Children 4 and under are FREE. General Admission is Friday, December 6 (10am - 4pm), Saturday, December 7 (Noon - 4pm) and Sunday, December 8 (Noon - 4pm).

Also the Cranbrook House will also be hosting a special Santa Sighting event during its Holiday Splendor weekend where families can get photographs with Kris Kringle. This is a separate ticketed event with limited availability taking place on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9 am to 11:30am. Tickets for the Santa meet and greet must be purchased in advance of Thursday, December 5 and are non-refundable. Tickets for the Santa Sighting are $10 for children and $15 for adults. Children will have a chance to share their wish list and take a photo with Santa in the Cranbrook House Library plus each child will receive a gift from Santa and his helpers.

Cranbrook House will be serving as a Mittens for Detroit collection site during the Holiday Splendor Tour and Santa Sighting events. Mittens for Detroit, Inc. is a nonprofit with the purpose of collecting, purchasing, and distributing new mittens and gloves to children and adults in need in Detroit, and other underserved cities. Please consider bringing with you during your visit to the historic Cranbrook House a pair of new gloves or mittens to donate.

Cranbrook House is located at 380 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304. Parking is available onsite and across the street at Christ Church Cranbrook. A shuttle sponsored by The Suburban Collection and driven by Cranbrook House & Gardens Auxiliary volunteers will be provided during general admission.

My family has had some magical experiences exploring the grounds of the Cranbrook House taking strolls through its gardens and woods during the summer months. It is like stepping into the surrounds of Beauty and the Beast or Harry Potter yet conveniently located within the suburbs of Detroit. We haven't visited before during the holiday season though to see the manor in all its splendor decked out in festive decorations. So this dad blogger is looking forward to taking the family this year on the historic Cranbrook House Holiday Splendor Tour. Maybe we'll see you there!