Detail of the Camp­bell House Din­ing Room

Believe it or not, we’re already pulling the wreaths and gar­land out of stor­age. It seems ear­ly, but it takes us weeks to get every­thing prepped before we bring it upstairs for hang­ing and dec­o­rat­ing. (And we cleaned the light bulbs on all of the fix­tures. No kidding.…we take this stuff seri­ous­ly.) If you haven’t been to the Muse­um all year, you should do it in ear­ly Novem­ber through the end of Decem­ber because the house is at its finest around the hol­i­days. Need an excuse to come by? Here are a few things we have on the calendar:

• Hol­i­day Mem­bers Par­ty, Sat­ur­day, Octo­ber 22, 2011 from 3:00 to 6:30: Join us for light refresh­ments and a chance to explore the house and gar­den. This year marks the 20th Anniver­sary of our Muse­um Store, so all pur­chas­es that day receive a 20% discount.
• Annu­al 1851 Soci­ety Din­ner, Tues­day, Novem­ber 15, 2011 at 6:00 PM. If you are in this spe­cial mem­ber­ship lev­el, you will receive your invi­ta­tion to the swank din­ner this week. (Want to know more about the 1851 Soci­ety and oth­er mem­ber­ships? Vis­it our mem­ber­ship page.)
• 

  The Muse­um Build­ing at the Mis­souri Botan­i­cal Garden

  Hol­i­day His­toric House Tour, Thurs­day, Decem­ber 1, 2011 from 3:00 to 8:30 PM.  $30 for bus trans­porta­tion; $20 for self-guid­ed trans­porta­tion. Come vis­it not one , not two, but five his­toric hous­es in St. Louis. If you pay for bus trans­porta­tion, hop on the bus (Gus!) and you will be chauf­feured to the Camp­bell House Muse­um, Chatil­lon-DeMe­nil Man­sion, The Eugene Field House, The Old Cour­t­house, and the Mis­souri Botan­i­cal Gar­den’s Tow­er Grove House and Muse­um Build­ing. Each site will be dec­o­rat­ed for the hol­i­days, and make sure you’re ready to do some shop­ping in the fes­tive gift shops along the way. If you select the self-guid­ed option, you can pro­ceed to each stop at your leisure. Lim­it­ed park­ing is avail­able at all five sites. A buf­fet din­ner will be served from 4:00 to 7:30 PM at Cafe DeMe­nil at the Chatil­lon-DeMe­nil Man­sion. Cost of the din­ner is $9.95, and it is not includ­ed in the tick­et price. Please call the Eugene Field House at 314/421‑4689 for tick­ets and to reserve buf­fet din­ner seating.