There’s a perfect blend of tradition and creativity at the 47th annual Holidays at the Manor House.

The two-story, symmetrical Georgian Colonial mansion built in the mid-1930s — with its 34,000 square feet, 15 bedrooms, 16 fireplaces, and 17 bathrooms — was once the home of Champion Spark Plug founder Robert A. Stranahan’s family. It features a grand staircase, grandfather clock, and views of a babbling creek and woods on the estate now known as the Wildwood Preserve in the most-visited Metroparks Toledo location.

Inside are countless Christmas trees, decorated in both expected and unanticipated ways.

There’s a flower room decorated with skunks (Pepe Le Pew, anyone?); a kitchen with gumball, peppermint candy, and Dum Dums trees, and a mitten tree awaiting your new or handmade gloves, scarves, and hats for donation to the Toledo Public Schools after the displays, open Saturday through Dec. 11, are taken down.

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“My favorite thing about it is that it’s entirely different every year,” said Metroparks public relations director Scott Carpenter, adding that the estate and grounds were obtained in 1974. “We have family heirlooms and super-creative volunteers, and we’ve decorated some nooks and crannies this year that we haven’t before.”

Holidays at the Manor House draws about 40,000 visitors annually.

Metroparks director of education and programming Shannon Hughes said 30 rooms are decorated by about 75 volunteers who bring ornaments and the rest, while the trees are provided. Setup takes four days.

“We are super excited and humbled that so many people have made this a family tradition,” said Ms. Hughes, who has decorated most of the rooms in the house during her 16 years with the Metroparks. “You’ll see third generations come in, saying, ‘I came with my grandma and great-grandpa.’

“It is a really well-received, well-loved Toledo tradition that’s free.”

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph all have their names on a pillow in one room decorated with a “Santa takes flight” theme. 

“Santa’s maps are all over the room,” Ms. Hughes said. “So, you can see Santa’s getting ready for the big night.

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“Each room has its own theme and the decorator decides that. They do have to do interviews with a group of us, who decide whether or not it will be accepted. They bring in samples and drawings.”

Veteran decorators include “the father-daughter team” of Mark and Danielle Smith, who did the dining room, and Cindy Brewer and Meg Buck, who did the kitchen.

“The Smiths brought in their own china,” Ms. Hughes said, pointing to the 10 table place settings in the dining room. “And the [large brown stuffed] dog has been in every one of the rooms they’ve decorated. I think his name is Buddy.”

The dog is posted at the Christmas dessert table, probably anticipating some goodies being dropped by the kids. Decorated Christmas trees are all over the huge room, which is Ms. Hughes’ favorite spot in the house with its mural of the Feast of the King of the Tuileries purchased by Mr. Stranahan in France and “brought over on concrete slabs” on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The kitchen has small Christmas trees decorated with candy on a table.

“And this tree is really cute with homemade bubblegum machine [ornaments],” Ms. Hughes said. “A lot of our decorations are homemade with a lot of creativity. About 90 percent of them are hand-done.”

History is another important element.

“The Valentine Theatre wanted to decorate the living room this year,” Ms. Hughes said. “They brought in some of their costuming and one of their seats. We like to do a lot with the history of Toledo.”

The Valentine, which was given the first name of theater builder George Ketcham’s father, opened Dec. 25, 1895, with Rip Van Winkle, and that is noted in the display.

A 1950s Christmas-themed room has a Lionel train under a tree put up by the Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club (which also has a display at the nearby Metroparks Hall during Holidays at the Manor House), along with photos of children from that decade. A Glass City-themed room focuses on one of Toledo’s best-known products.

A 419-themed room represents “things going on in Toledo,” and there’s a Toledo Walleye tree decorated with player figures and ornaments from the popular hockey team.

“And I have never before seen a package tree,” Ms. Hughes said, pointing to the Toledo Community Foundation’s decorated sitting room. The ornaments are wire boxes with yellow and cool white lights with gold and silver wrapping paper. Gold gnomes reside among the gold trees.

“And we have a room totally dedicated to skunks this year,” Ms. Hughes said. “We do like to see that our native, misunderstood critters in the area are represented. It’s a fun homage to skunks.”

She laughed while looking at the whimsical flower room decorated with a carved wooden skunk, stuffed skunks, a skunk pillow, and a tree with skunk ornaments and a skunk atop it.

“We put in a little whimsy,” Ms. Hughes said, adding that smaller rooms are usually targeted for such.

The butler’s pantry celebrates Dia de los Muertos, and has 30 plastic candles that are artificially lit as a safety precaution. “We like to celebrate more holidays with these decorations,” she noted.

There’s also an Ohio State-themed room in the taproom on the underground level of the house. The tree is decorated with Buckeye ornaments, and has an OSU football field welcome mat under it featuring buckeye nuts in the Script Ohio. Brutus Buckeye is atop it.

Has there ever been a University of Michigan room?

“Nobody’s ever asked me,” Ms. Hughes said, laughing, and adding she would be open to it.

Contact Steve Kornacki at skornacki@theblade.com or on Twitter @SKORNACKI.

First Published December 2, 2022, 12:00 p.m.