Join Knox Heritage at Historic Westwood on Sunday, December 8th from 12:00 until 4:00pm for an annual family tradition. Experience a Gilded-age Christmas with holiday music and refreshments as well as our first-ever holiday market. The grand 1890 home of John and Adelia Lutz will be filled with beautiful holiday decorations, including a tree featuring handmade Victorian ornaments created by the Knoxville Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America. Enjoy a fine collection of Adelia Lutz’s artwork in her Studio, the signature room in the house.
Historic Westwood will display an elaborate Victorian Christmas tree hung with over 200 hand-stitched ornaments made by the Knoxville Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America. The ornaments are patterned after typical Victorian designs popular in England during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most important decorations for children at the time were candy and small toys, so Victorian homemakers stitched pouches, small bags, or cone-shaped containers out of leftover scraps of velvet, brocade, ribbons, and lace to display them. Guild members replicated these designs using 20 different kinds of needlework and beading. So-called Christmas “poopers” or “crackers” also adorn the tree. These ornaments stowed sweets and toys in a tube that was covered with colored paper or fabric. Elegant Victorian dolls wearing fancy hand-stitched clothing sit under the tree.
This event is free and open to the public.
Historic Westwood is located at 3425 Kingston Pike. Free parking is available next door at Laurel Church of Christ located at 3457 Kingston Pike.
Knox Heritage preserves structures and places of historic or cultural significance for our community. Established in 1974 as a non-profit educational corporation, our organization works to protect and raise awareness of what is beautiful and irreplaceable in East Tennessee.
