Hotchkiss-Fyler House open for holidays

TORRINGTON —The elegant Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum, 192 Main St., will open its doors to holiday visitors beginning Saturday, Dec. 10, and continuing through Friday, Dec. 30. The museum staff will offer guided tours of the house, which was built in 1900 and was home to the Hotchkiss and Fyler families for more than half a century. Christmas at the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum features turn-of-the-century holiday decorations and lavish displays of greenery and flowers. In addition to the garlands which trim the staircase, mantels, and doorways, the house is also decorated with wreaths and poinsettias. Floral arrangements are provided by the Garden Committee of the Torrington Historical Society and by local horticulturalist Gwenthye B. Harvey.The dining room table is set for a Christmas dinner with fine china, crystal, silverware and linens that belonged to Gertrude Fyler Hotchkiss. A number of trees are displayed in the house, including a table-top tree in the sunroom which is decorated with late-19th and early 20th century ornaments on loan from a private collector and a full-size tree in the reception room that is covered in handmade Victorian-style ornaments and vintage ornaments from the society’s collection. Antique toys, also from the collection, are displayed beneath the reception room tree. This year visitors will find decorations and displays throughout the house that feature birds and feathers, a tribute to Mrs. Hotchkiss’ love of animals and nature.Guided tours of the Hotchkiss-Fyler House Museum will be available Dec. 10 through Dec. 30, Tuesdays through Sundays, from noon to 4 p.m., tours on the half hour, last tour at 3:30 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, free for members and children under age 12. The house is closed on Mondays and will be closed on Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. For more information, call 860-482-8260.

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