See an authentic representation.
Much research has been done to insure that the Museum will reflect realism in decor and display. For example, in the 1800s, families typically limited their extensive decorations to the public areas of their homes, rather than the top-to-bottom decorations we favor today. So the downstairs of the Museum will be lavishly decorated much the way it was in Phineas Banning’s day, with Christmas trees, festive wreaths, and elaborate ribbons. The upstairs rooms will display the kinds of gifts family members might have exchanged.

Be delighted and inspired.
When you visit, you will be especially enchanted by the Family Living Room. Here, the huge Christmas tree will be adorned with extraordinary ornaments hand made by the Banning Residence Museum Volunteers in the fashion of the time. These ornaments, made of materials reminiscent of those days, will include a variety of whimsical paper chains, and paper scrap ornaments—made in Banning’s time from chromolithographs cut from books and embellished with cording, sequins and ribbons. Cardboard cornucopias, used as candy holders, will swing from branches, and nestled among the greenery will be delicate bird’s nests made from real eggshells.