Osborne Homestead Museum Holiday Tours

One of the most popular and free events in the Litchfield Hills are the holiday house tours offered by the Osborne Homestead Museum located on 500 Hawthorne Avenue in Derby.  This year's tours take place from Friday, November 24 - Sunday, December 17 with tours being offered Thursdays thru Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Each year, many wonderful clubs contribute to the holiday festivities here. The clubs are: Derby Garden Society, Garden Club of Orange, Long Hill Garden Club, Naugatuck Garden Club, Olde Ripton Garden Club of Shelton, Oxford Garden Club, Roxbury/Bridgewater Garden Club, Women Redefining Retirement from Milford, and Ye Olde Kellogg Garden Club. Since the clubs rotate rooms each year to a different theme, the decorations are always new and creative.

The Osborne Homestead Museum, a classic colonial house constructed in the mid-1800's and enlarged and completely remodeled in the Colonial Revival style during the 1920's is transformed into a holiday showcase. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its restored interior is embellished with holiday decorations that are displayed amid the original contents of the estate, which constitutes a significant collection of antiques and fine arts.  The theme of this years event is with the theme of "Night at the Opera".

A special highlight of this event are the Holiday Twilight Tours that take place on Fridays on December 1, 8, and 15 from 4 pm. to 7 p.m. This is a magical time to visit this house that is bathed in soft lighting where beautiful holiday floral arrangements and decor are sure to put  you in the spirit of the season. To round out the fun, a special holiday gift market is planned and will take place on Friday December 1, 4 PM to 7 PM and Saturday December 2, 9 AM to 12 PM. Groups of more than 8 people to call (203) 734-2513 to reserve a tour date and time.

New Art Show @ Carole Peck's Good News Cafe

Carole Peck's Good News Cafe in Woodbury, located on 694 Main Street South has announced a new art show that will run from November 26 through Feb. 6, 2018 featuring the work of  Heather Sandifer and Cynthia Zinser.  The opening reception at the restaurant is on Sunday, November 26 from 3 to 5 p.m.  The public is invited to meet the artists, view their exhibitions, and learn more about their work while enjoying complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine.

Painter Painter Cynthia Zinser's show is titled “Kitchen & Market” .  These  paintings are inspired by Dutch still life paintings that were meant to be owned, hung and enjoyed--not in palaces--but in homes filled with the scents of coffee and stew and the cacophony of family life.  This treatment and the scale of Cynthia Zinser's Kitchen & Market paintings claim that lineage--not in backward-looking nostalgia--but as something that is worth preserving in our own lives, and in our own homes.  

Artist Heather Sandifer's show is titled Extraordinary Botanicals. Heather Sandifer has created a new kind of botanical art – one that combines the hands-on technique of nature printing with those for the traditional monotype.  A hunter/gatherer, she has exclusive permission to collect specimen plants for her work in some of the finest gardens on the East Coast. Sandifer’s artwork features one of a kind, single prints off glass which are then hand embellished with watercolor, pencil, paint or other mediums, each unique. 

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