by NANCY BERGER

Don't rush out to get your holiday decorations this year! Wait until you've had a chance to preview what the Chestnut Hill Historical Society and the Chestnut Hill Community Association has in store for you on Saturday, December 6 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Five Chestnut Hill private homes will be decorated for the holidays by a small army of Philadelphia’s most talented florists and interior designers. Some of the details are starting to filter to us here at the Local office.  

Among the houses is a 100+ year-old Queen Anne Victorian designed by G.W.  Hewitt  and W. D. Hewitt  for 19th century developer Henry Howard Houston. In the dining room, for example, Rothe Florists, a Mt. Airy business, plans to “create an aromatic holiday at home,” said Linda Rothe. She plans to incorporate angels, a lighted lemon tree and bowls of cinnamon-scented pinecones, plus some hand-painted wineglasses on the sideboard to give visitors some ideas for holiday entertaining.

Kim Kristire, owner & designer of simplyCottage, at 8430 Germantown Ave. is planning a French country kitchen, with a 48” pedestal-base table surrounded by four French high-back bistro chairs. The table will be dressed with Nicholas Mosse (Irish) holiday pottery and coordinating table linens. The sitting nook off the kitchen will hold a 72” tight-back English country design loveseat, upholstered in brown riding toile accompanied by a cinnabar trunk and a hand-woven rattan chair by Palecek, with red & cream ticking-stripe cushions.

In the sitting room, just off the front entry, Bitsy Rhoda, an “interior refiner” and owner of ReDo Immediate Interior Solutions, will create a spot for reading or writing holidays cards … a cozy spot to put your feet up and read by the fire while surrounded by the sights and smells of nature during the holiday season. Bitsy told the Local, “I’m thrilled to be included as a designer in this worthwhile and fun project for the Historical Society.”

The Pottery Barn’s Manayunk store has been charged with designing the living room, entry hallway and staircase. Cabe Allen, part of the PB design team, will integrate holiday trim from the store, including candles, garland, mirrors and vases. There will be a Christmas tree furnished with traditionally styled PB ornaments and trim.  Lamps with silk and crystal shades will be added to coordinate with what’s already in the house — plus a few pillows and throws and a rug in the entry hallway. “We want to demonstrate how Pottery Barn furnishings can so easily integrate into what a homeowner already has, in addition to enhancing an already traditional Christmas environment,” Allen said.

The Carol Schwartz Gallery, 101 Bethlehem Pike, will accessorize the living room and two other areas with artwork, according to the gallery’s Elliott Schwartz. The gallery owner plans to wait until Pottery Barn is finished to select the artwork so that they blend in with the room.

Stay tuned … more glorious details will follow in the weeks to come.

All proceeds of the Chestnut Hill Holiday House Tour 2003 benefit the Chestnut Hill Community Association and the Chestnut Hill Historical Society. Tickets for the December 6 house tour are $20 per person in advance for CHHS and CHCA members; $25 per person in advance for nonmembers; $30 per person at the door; $20 per person for groups of 10 or more.

A preview party and sneak preview of three houses is planned for Friday evening, December 5, at Sugarloaf Conference Center, Germantown Avenue and Bell’s Mill Road. Advance reservations for a deluxe package including the December 5 event and the December 6 house tour are  $80 per person, guest; $100 per person, patron, and $150 per person, benefactor. For reservations and information, call 215-248-8810 or 215-247-0417. Anyone interested in being a part of the holiday house tour is asked to call the CHCA office at 215-248-8810.