Inside Christmas at Victoria Mansion

December 6, 2000

One of the most important historic house museums anywhere in the United States, the Victoria Mansion is in Portland at the corner of Park and Danforth Streets. Built for Ruggles Morse, a Mainer who made his fortune in the hotel trade primarily in New Orleans, the Mansion was intended to be a summer home. “Being someone with a background in luxury hotels, he knew the best of everything,” according to Julia Kirby, assistant to the Museum Director.

Morse had the Mansion built between 1858 and 1860, just before the Civil War.  Morse hired the top designers in the country at that time to create his home. New Haven architect Henry Austin designed the Mansion. New York cabinetmaker Gustave Herter provided most of the ornate interior cabinetry and furniture. Portland’s Victoria Mansion is the only complete Herter commission that survives today. You can tour the Mansion during the regular season from May through October.

"Christmas at Victoria Mansion" has brightened the local holidays for the last seventeen years. Local designers decorate the Mansion for Christmas. This year’s theme - One Thousand Years of Christmas - celebrates the year 2000 by looking back over the last thousand years of design history, as a source of inspiration to the designers of today.

For a taste of what you can see at the Victoria Mansion during the Christmas at Victoria Mansion celebration, we took our IPIX 360 degree panoramic camera into the Mansion.  While it can give you some sense of being surrounded by the opulence of the era, it still pales in comparison to actually visiting. 

The Christmas at Victoria Mansion Photo Gallery

IPIX Image Gallery

Front Hall
	Green Bedroom
Dining Room
	Sitting Room
For help on using IPIX images click here

Chad Gilley, Online Editor   Aurora Provencher, Online Editor
David A. Rossignol, Online Editor    John Leonard, Production 

Special Thanks to Julia Kirby, Victoria Mansion