I don't Christmas shop at the mall! In fact I never even go to the mall! I don't shop in big box stores either. That means no Walmart, Target, Kmart basically nothing with the word mart in the title or a store that is not a locally run business. Therefore I introduce to you The Carriage House. 
Located in Old Aurora Colony.
Nearly 600 people, almost all German and Swiss emigrants,
established and lived in the Aurora Colony, a Christian communal society, from 1856 to 1883.
The Carriage House is now privately owned but opens to the public a few times a year for craft fairs and holiday sales. Linda(Ben's mother), Ava(my daughter) & I started our Christmas shopping here.
The stables. This mare was very friendly she allowed me to take many pictures of her.
This antique Lawn Jockey greeted us at the circular drive to the Carriage House with an information packet about his origins in hand.
The black "lawn jockey" was an important signal on the road to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
At the time of Washington's crossing of the Delaware, a 12 year old African American Joque Graves was at camp, a groomsman for Washington. He wanted to make the crossing with the army; however, Washington, aware of the danger, ordered him to stay on the Pennsylvania shore, and shine a light, so upon return the company would know where to come to retrieve their horses. After the surprise attack on the Trenton barracks, Washington returned to find Joque had frozen to death, guarding the horses, the lantern still ablaze and frozen in his hand. Moved by the boys devotion, Washington commissioned a statue, 'The Faithful Groomsman', to stand in honor of Graves at the General's estate at Mount Vernon. It is ironic that this statue, commissioned and made popular by slave owning Washington, would eventually become a beacon for freedom for runaway slaves. With spies and bounty hunters everywhere, even safe houses were not always safe. It became necessary to be able to convey, in a low-key fashion, what condition any Underground Railroad stop was in at any given time. The answer was the 'lawn jockey', painted to wear a red cap. If a safe house was 'safe', and prepared to accept visitors, a lantern or an American flag would be placed in the forward reaching hand. If the house was under scrutiny or compromised, the lantern or flag would be removed, signaling the travelers to move to another house down the line. Further south, along the Mississippi, green and red ribbons tied to the statues arm - whether clandestinely or with the owner's knowledge - attested to the status of the owners of the house: red ribbons alerting danger, green ribbon announcing safety
The black "lawn jockey" was an important signal on the road to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
At the time of Washington's crossing of the Delaware, a 12 year old African American Joque Graves was at camp, a groomsman for Washington. He wanted to make the crossing with the army; however, Washington, aware of the danger, ordered him to stay on the Pennsylvania shore, and shine a light, so upon return the company would know where to come to retrieve their horses. After the surprise attack on the Trenton barracks, Washington returned to find Joque had frozen to death, guarding the horses, the lantern still ablaze and frozen in his hand. Moved by the boys devotion, Washington commissioned a statue, 'The Faithful Groomsman', to stand in honor of Graves at the General's estate at Mount Vernon. It is ironic that this statue, commissioned and made popular by slave owning Washington, would eventually become a beacon for freedom for runaway slaves. With spies and bounty hunters everywhere, even safe houses were not always safe. It became necessary to be able to convey, in a low-key fashion, what condition any Underground Railroad stop was in at any given time. The answer was the 'lawn jockey', painted to wear a red cap. If a safe house was 'safe', and prepared to accept visitors, a lantern or an American flag would be placed in the forward reaching hand. If the house was under scrutiny or compromised, the lantern or flag would be removed, signaling the travelers to move to another house down the line. Further south, along the Mississippi, green and red ribbons tied to the statues arm - whether clandestinely or with the owner's knowledge - attested to the status of the owners of the house: red ribbons alerting danger, green ribbon announcing safety
The Carriage house had many gorgeous features outdoors & in. The architecture was amazing and the astethic of horse culture was profound. Love this triangle. Curious as to what is for since it so far from the house. Maybe a dinner bell for the horses to return to the stable?
The side door to the garage has this fun accent the door lock is an upsidedown heart.
I also fell in love with the bell turn crank. The outside of the door has a hand turn crank that the guest winds it up & then it rings the bell!
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Now on to the festivities!! There were so many christmas trees! I have featured a few of my favorites here. There were literally 12 in the garage alone!
Above you'll see the Gold Tree with golden bird cages, giant swirling noels & a few silver baubles.
Below an all pink tree adorned in ballet slippers, ballerinas &
pink marabou puff ornaments!
This is the Irish tree my favorite! There were many an ornament all ready bought off this tree so in this picture its a bit spare! But it was quite a sight for my wee Irish eyes!!
The red & white Christmas trees were immaculately gorgeous as well. I really love the monochrome tananbaum look!!
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My little miss peering into a Victorian cone ornament. "What's inside mama?"
This beautiful Edwardian cabinet was covered in Christmas decor. Ava & I peered inside to authenticate it and to find a NSF sticker of course! :(
This handsome Scotsman was our greeter. He allowed me to take a picture when we left. He reminded me of my Grandpa Bobby and he thanked me and said he would take it as a compliment comparing Irishmen to Scotsmen is alright in his book! "A Celts a Celt!" he said!
Thank you for taking your time to gander at my pictures! More Holiday shenanigans to come.
XOXO BB
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