Christmas at the Newland House

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the decorations everywhere. No other holiday leads to such festive embellishments. From the grocery store to the bank to the mall you’ll find trees and santas and snowmen galore. I especially love the practice of decorating historic homes. They’re wonderful to visit year round but when they’re all decked out for the holidays they’re extra special. Last night the Newland House in Huntington Beach held a holiday open house and Shannon and I made sure to go.

The Newland House is located on Beach Blvd. and is surrounded by a busy shopping center. The oldest home in Huntington Beach it was once surrounded by over 500 acres of ranch land and home to the Newland family. Now it’s a historical museum decked out in the furnishings of the era. On our visit it was festively decorated for Christmas.

While we wandered around the surprisingly large house a pianist played classic tunes. It was a festive evening complete with hot cider and cookies.

Outside there was a cute booth supporting Historic Wintersburg.

Historic Wintersburg is the site of a Japanese American village that dated back to the early 1900’s. Consisting of six historic structures it represents a significant part of Orange County’s history. Unfortunately, the site has long been in contention and the village was named by the National Trust as one of 2014’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Luckily, two years later it still exists and hopefully will one day be restored.

Visiting the Newland House was a perfect start to the holiday season. It’s a an Orange County treasure that I’m glad is still around.