Lansdowne Mansion Included on Lake Bluff Christmas Home Tour

The Lake Bluff History Museum’s Historic Christmas Home Tour, featuring five houses new to the event, will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 14.

The tour includes an historic lakefront mansion: Lansdowne; a “cottage” dating back to Lake Bluff’s days as a thriving summer resort in the 19th century; a Prairie-style home built in the area known as the Artists’ Colony by an artist and his wife, the editor of Poetry Magazine; a bungalow in the Arts & Crafts style and an early 20th century Gable Front home representative of Lake Bluff’s transition to a suburban community.  

This year’s tour also provides access to two additional homes with holiday boutiques participants can visit to browse and purchase holiday items.

This is the third time the Lake Bluff History Museum has hosted the Historic Christmas Home Tour, a popular fundraising event that fulfills the museum’s mission to bring Lake Bluff history to life. Premiering in 2010, the event is now held every other year. 

This year’s event offers participants an opportunity to see the holiday décor in five homes that were not previously part of the Christmas Home Tour and to appreciate the beauty of the Lansdowne mansion. Lansdowne, designed by renowned architect Benjamin Marshall, was built in 1911 for the Clow family. Clow was president of his wife’s family’s firm: Rand McNally. Romancing the Home will decorate the mansion for the tour.

Tickets for the event cost $35 and can be purchased online at ChristmasLakeBluff.com, or in person at the Lake Bluff History Museum during museum hours (Tuesday/Thursday 1-4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

The tour starts at the Lake Bluff History Museum, 127 E. Scranton Avenue. There, participants will receive a booklet, tour agenda and map before beginning their self-guided tour. While the houses are all located in east Lake Bluff, they are not within easy walking distance of one another. Comfortable shoes are recommended. 

Call (847) 482-1571 or e-mail events@lakebluffhistory.org for more information.

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