There is an ever-changing variety of special events at Hearthstone.
Please scroll below for details.
Select Your Date for Tickets
To purchase tickets for the evening events, please start by selecting a date:
Note: Museum members are eligible for 15% rebate at the door (one rebate for a singles membership, two for a couples membership, up to four for a family membership). Please show your membership confirmation at the greeters table upon arrival. Thank you for your support of Hearthstone!
Victorian Christmas: Naturally Yours
Evening Open Houses
FRIDAYS AND SATURDAY EVENINGS from Nov 29 - Dec 28 starting at 6:00 pm each evening.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children (children under five are free).
A holiday tradition continues as once again each room of Hearthstone is overflowing with Christmas decorations that bring to life this season of merriment and wonder.
As always, there is a new theme this year with all decorations hand-crafted to match by our dedicated curation staff and volunteers and with the advice and help of Fox Valley Technical Colleges’ school of design students. This year’s theme is a natural Christmas which was very popular at the time when Hearthstone was built. (Click here for details.) The result is stunning room-after-room of literal works of art that bring to life the best of Victorian Christmas traditions.
The evening events are “open-house” type of affairs with no set guided tour. Rather, holiday merry-makers are encouraged to wander from room to room to take in the sights at their own pace. Our holiday “welcomers” will be on-hand in each room, wearing their Victorian holiday finest, to welcome you in and explain Victorian holiday traditions or answer any questions that may arise. The evenings also feature live performances of traditional Christmas carols played on our 1875 Kranich and Bach square grand piano as well as by other musical guests.
Please note that here are two additional ways to see the beautiful decorations:
Regular daytime tours. The decorated rooms are included in every day-time tour of Hearthstone. Tickets are available here and as walk-ups. Please note that the holiday decorations are not the focus of these guided tours. Rather, they cover the technological, historic, and artistic significance of the residence.
Special daytime tours entitled How Victorians Invented Christmas. The back stories stories behind our modern secular Christmas are front and center in this guided tour. Please scroll below for additional details and tickets.
Our evening guests are encouraged to linger as long as they like (though we do close by 8:30 pm). However, we request that guests arrive during their stated entry times to avoid congestion. Children’ must be accompanied by an adult and can enter at the adult ticket time.
Also please note:
To fully participate in the tours, guests must be able to climb a long set of stairs to the second floor.
The parking lot fills up quickly but there is ample free parking one half block away from the museum on State Street.
Because of high demand for this evening event and the potential for overcrowding, tour tickets should be purchased on-line through this website.
A limited number of walk-up tickets may be available for specific entry windows. However, tickets can sell out quickly and availability cannot be guaranteed.
Tickets are for specific dates and entry times as listed on every e-ticket confirmation sent via email (please make sure that your email address is accurate when buying tickets). No separate tickets will be sent. The confirmation is the ticket.
E-tickets confirmations must be used for their stated times and dates. Unfortunately, there can be no exceptions.
Click here for tickets for all tours.
December 5 at 2:00 pm
December 6 at 11:00 am
December 12 at 2:00 pm
December 13 at 11:00 am
December 19 at 2:00 pm
December 20 at 11:00 am
How Victorians Invented Christmas…
A Special Victorian Christmas Traditions Tour
on select FRIDAYS (2:00 PM) AND SATURDAYS (11:00 am) in december
$15.00
Join Hearthstone’s Executive Director George Schroeder or one of the museum’s docents on a special tour that explores how almost every one of today’s popular holiday secular traditions - from decorating trees to sending cards to caroling to even eating turkey dinner - started in the Victorian Era.
The tours are 90 minutes in length and visit each room of the residence focusing on the lavish holiday decorations that bring to life the finest in Victorian Christmas celebrations.
Guests will not only be amazed at how relatively recent the secular celebration has developed. They will also be armed with enough Christmas trivia to wow any family gathering!
Each guest will also receive, as a small holiday gift from Hearthstone, recipe cards featuring favorite Victorian Christmas fare!
Please note:
To fully participate in the tour, guests must be able to climb a set of stairs from the lower level to the first floor and a long set of stairs to the second floor.
The parking lot fills up quickly with these tours but there is ample free parking one half block away from the museum on State Street.
Because of high demand for this event and the potential for overcrowding, all tours tickets must be purchased on-line through this website.
Tickets are for specific dates and entry times as listed on every confirmation email (please make sure that your email address is accurate when buying tickets).
Home School DIY Victorian Ornaments
Elementary School students on December 5 at 9:00-10:30 am
Middle and High School students on December 12 at 9:00-10:30 am
Harken back to a time when ornaments were hand-made at home by Victorian children because there were no store-bought tree trimmings yet. It is a time of paper chains and cutouts of Santa (still being done today!) but also ornaments made with simple natural materials that could be found outside any home.
These sessions allow today’s homeschoolers the chance to recreate this tradition and learn along the way. As they craft ornaments out of materials provided by Hearthstone, they will learn about the beginnings of celebrating Christmas in the English speaking world and how decorating a tree or a home becomes an essential part of the holiday.
Cost is $8 per student to cover the cost of the materials. Students must be accompanied by at least one adult.
Space is very limited. To reserve a spot, please sign up here.