Red, white and green are the colors of the season in the heart of Hopelands Gardens, where the Doll House has received its 2024 decoration treatment, courtesy of the Aiken Council of Garden Clubs.
The council's six clubs rotate annually in terms of leading the Christmas project, and this year's effort, led by Country Gardeners, has a theme of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
"We do it for the public, the children and the city of Aiken, trying to spread the Christmas cheer around," said Cynthia Barrett, with Country Gardeners. "It takes a lot of ladies and a lot more time and expense than is probably realized."
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The center of activity, as noted on the city's website, is a "charming building" and "the former playhouse and schoolhouse of the Iselin children" -- a reference to the family of Hope Goddard Iselin, who was part of the New York- and Rhode Island-based clan that spent its winter months on the 14-acre tract starting in the early 20th century and eventually bequeathed the property to the city of Aiken.
This year's Doll House decorations include a tree donated by Cold Creek Nurseries that is now decorated from top to bottom. The public can get its first look at this year's creation this weekend, with the opening of Christmas in Hopelands. Hours are 6 to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 14-23.
The Doll House, as noted on the municipal website, "is one of the first types of modular homes of the early 1900s," was ordered by the Iselins from a Hodgson Company catalog and was constructed with nuts and bolts.
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Tropical Storm Helene, in a massively destructive swing through the Aiken-Augusta area, battered Hopelands Gardens, creating tangles of fallen trees, broken walls and downed utility lines, but did not devastate any of the buildings -- a fact not lost on the Doll House's boosters.
"The Doll House escaped damage, as did all the plants around it, and the live oaks behind us were saved," said Peggy Thome, president of the Aiken Council of Garden Clubs. "It was just amazing, so we're very grateful that the hurricane skipped over us."
The council's other clubs, all on board for the annual Hopelands Christmas effort, are the Garden Makers, Green Gardeners, Sunshine Garden Club, Cereus Gardeners and Sunshine Garden Club.