NEWSLETTER
November 28 – December 30, 2025
Staatsburgh, N.Y. (11/18/25) — Staatsburgh State Historic Site will present A Gilded Age Christmas from November 28 through December 30, featuring lavish decorations on two floors of the Gilded Age mansion. The decorations create a stunning and festive touring experience in the Beaux-Arts country home, one of the great estates along the Hudson River. Visitors can self-conduct at their own pace to enjoy the festive displays, and children can search for hidden mouse house tableaux and enjoy a scavenger hunt in the mansion with a prize on completion.
Voted in the Top 10 historic home holiday tours in the United States in 2024, Staatsburgh will open for holiday visits starting Friday, November 28. Reservations for an entry time are required and can be made at www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS. Admission is charged upon arrival. The site cannot guarantee availability for drop-in visitors. Admission is $10 per adult; $8 for seniors and students; children ages 12 and younger are free.
Staatsburgh was the Gilded Age country home of Ruth Livingston Mills, a prominent figure in New York society, and her husband, financier and philanthropist Ogden Mills. Their stately home overlooking the Hudson River was redesigned and expanded to 79 rooms in 1895 by famous architect Stanford White, and contains its original furnishings, art and décor. Guests to Staatsburgh will enjoy decorations that evoke the spirit of the turn of the century. This year, inspiration comes from the Grand Tour; a journey across Europe and other foreign countries that was popular with wealthy Americans during the Gilded Age. Staatsburgh’s holiday trimmings reflect the style of Gilded Age Christmases, from the over-the-top dining room ornamentation to the old-fashioned plain white giftwrap paper used on presents heaped under the mansion’s 18-foot Christmas tree. The tree is decorated with electric lights, as trees might have been in other mansions of the period. Tree lighting was an early application of electricity, first used by one of Thomas Edison’s engineers on his Christmas tree at home.
The site’s giftshop will be open during all tour hours, offering a wide range of books, jewelry, apparel, toys, and other gift items. Visitors may also enjoy a stroll by the Hudson River, or a hike along the woodland trails in adjacent Mills Memorial State Park.
Staatsburgh State Historic Site and the Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills Memorial State Park are located on Old Post Road in Staatsburg, off Route 9 between Rhinebeck and Hyde Park. The historic site is one of 6 sites and 15 parks administered by the Taconic Region of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. For more information, call 845-889-8851, or visit Staatsburgh’s websites at https://www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS , www.Facebook.com/StaatsburghSHS, and www.staatsburghstatehistoricsite.blogspot.com. Staatsburgh’s events are also listed at parks.ny.gov
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, and welcomes over 80 million visitors annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), the OPRHP Blog or via the OPRHP Newsroom.
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