Inside North Star House
The Details That Make the House Feel Like Home
The interiors of North Star House are shaped by the details that give each room its character. Historic furnishings, artwork, warm woodwork, fireplaces, and collected objects work together to create spaces that feel layered, welcoming and connected to the history of the House.
While restoration work focuses on preserving and repairing the historic building itself, the Interiors team focuses on the rooms within it: how they are furnished, arranged, decorated and presented. That work can mean reconsidering the placement of a piece of furniture, researching the history of an object, creating a seasonal arrangement or transforming much of the first floor for Christmas.
The goal is not to recreate North Star House exactly as it appeared during one particular year. The House has changed throughout its long history, and not every original furnishing remains. Instead, the interiors are thoughtfully assembled to complement the architecture, highlight pieces with meaningful connections to the property and help visitors understand North Star House as more than a historic structure. It was also a home.
The Character of the Rooms
Every room at North Star House has its own personality. The scale of the space, natural light, woodwork, fireplaces, windows and architectural details all influence what belongs there and how the room is arranged. Rather than applying the same decorating approach throughout the first floor, the Interiors team works with the individual character of each space.
Furniture placement, artwork, textiles, flowers and smaller decorative objects are considered together. Some pieces naturally become focal points, while others are intentionally quieter, adding another layer to the room without competing with the architecture. The result is meant to feel collected and lived in rather than overly staged, allowing visitors to notice both the House itself and the objects within it.
The People Behind the Interiors
The rooms at North Star House come together through a mix of creativity, historical knowledge and a lot of attention to detail.
From furniture placement and seasonal decorating to researching the history behind individual objects, several people help shape how the interiors are presented and understood.
Rebekah Freeman
Interiors Committee Lead
Much of the interior decorating and presentation at North Star House is led by Rebekah Freeman, Interiors Committee Lead. Rebekah works closely with the furnishings, artwork, decorative pieces and overall look of the first-floor rooms. Her work includes arranging furniture, creating displays, selecting seasonal décor, styling rooms for events and holidays, and paying attention to the smaller details that help each space feel complete. Over time, she has developed a strong understanding of how the rooms work together and how individual pieces contribute to the character of the House. Much of what visitors see when they walk through North Star House has been carefully considered.
Lois Hensel
Interiors Collaborator
Working alongside Rebekah is Lois Hensel, an important part of the creative work that happens throughout the interiors. Lois helps with room arrangements, displays, furnishings, seasonal decorating and the countless smaller decisions involved in bringing a room together. She and Rebekah work closely during larger decorating projects and seasonal transformations, bringing different ideas and perspectives to the details throughout the first floor.
Mary Jo Wainwright
Historical Research Advisor
Beautiful interiors become even more meaningful when we understand the stories behind them. Mary Jo Wainwright, a local historian who works closely with North Star House, helps provide that historical context. Her research into the House, its residents, furnishings, photographs, objects and surrounding history helps the team better understand what visitors are seeing. Sometimes that research confirms a connection. Sometimes a seemingly small decorative object opens the door to an entirely new story. Mary Jo's work helps connect the visual details inside North Star House to the people and history behind them.
Where Design Meets History
The interiors are at their best when these different pieces come together.
Rebekah brings the overall vision and eye for the rooms. Lois helps bring that vision to life through the details. Mary Jo helps connect what visitors see with the history behind it.
Together, their work helps the rooms feel beautiful, thoughtful and distinctly North Star House.
Look Closer
The Details Tell Their Own Stories
Some of the most interesting things inside North Star House are easy to miss if you move through the rooms too quickly.
A piece of artwork.
The placement of a chair near a fireplace.
Flowers arranged on a table.
The texture of fabric.
An unusual object displayed on a shelf.
Light passing through stained glass.
These details create the atmosphere of the House, but some also have stories that reach much further.
The Agnes Foote Stained Glass
One of the most personal decorative details in North Star House can be found in the reception room.
Set within one of its windows is an oval stained glass panel created as a memorial to Agnes Foote, the youngest daughter of Arthur De Wint Foote and Mary Hallock Foote.
Its color and design make it beautiful on its own, but knowing the story behind it changes the way you see it.
It is a decorative element, a family memorial and a surviving piece of Foote family history all at once.
Furnishings, Art and Collected Pieces
The rooms at North Star House contain a mixture of furnishings, artwork, decorative objects and pieces collected or donated over time.
Some have direct connections to North Star House and its history.
Others have been selected because they complement the scale, period or character of the rooms.
The result is not intended to recreate one exact moment in the House's history.
Instead, the interiors create a sense of place while allowing visitors to notice the architecture and imagine the House as the home it once was.
Flowers and Seasonal Details
The interiors are not static throughout the year.
Flowers, greenery, displays and seasonal details change with events and the seasons.
A mantel may look completely different in spring than it does in December. A table arrangement might change for a special event. Flowers can bring color into a room without distracting from its historic character.
These smaller changes keep the House feeling active while allowing the permanent architecture and furnishings to remain the focus.
Christmas at North Star House
A Historic House Dressed for the Season
Christmas brings out a different side of North Star House.
During the holiday season, the first floor is transformed with greenery, trees, ribbon, ornaments, candles and seasonal details that work with the character of the historic rooms rather than competing with them.
The decorating is led by Rebekah Freeman, Lois Hensel and the North Star House Interiors team, with each room approached individually.
The result is not a modern holiday display placed inside an old building.
It is a version of Christmas that feels at home at North Star House.
Decorated each year by the North Star House Interiors team
Decorating a Historic House
Decorating North Star House for Christmas begins with the rooms.
The scale of the fireplaces, the woodwork, the windows, the furnishings and the natural colors of the House all influence what works in each space.
Rather than giving every room the same treatment, the Interiors team looks at the individual character of each one.
Greenery may follow the lines of a mantel.
A tree may be placed where it complements the architecture.
A smaller arrangement might draw attention to a piece of furniture, window or detail visitors might otherwise overlook.
The decorations are intended to enhance the House, not overwhelm it.
The Details Are Part of the Fun
Some of the best Christmas moments at North Star House are easy to miss at first glance.
An ornament tucked into greenery.
Ribbon woven through a mantel arrangement.
A small tree beside an antique piece.
Candlelight reflected in a window.
Seasonal flowers against the warm woodwork.
These smaller details give visitors a reason to slow down and look closely.
A House That Feels Lived In
Christmas makes it especially easy to imagine North Star House as a home.
The rooms feel warmer and more familiar.
Trees glow near the windows. Greenery softens the fireplaces. Decorative details make spaces visitors may already know feel completely different.
The goal is not to recreate one specific Foote family Christmas.
Instead, the holiday decorations give visitors another way to connect with the House as a place where people once lived, gathered and celebrated.
Creating New Traditions
North Star House has been part of many different lives and traditions throughout its history.
Today, decorating the House for Christmas has become a tradition of its own.
Volunteers return to help transform the rooms. Visitors come through the doors. Photographs are taken. New memories are created inside a place already filled with old ones.
Historic places remain meaningful when people continue to experience them.
Christmas is one of the ways North Star House continues to feel alive.
Behind the Scenes
Transforming North Star House for Christmas takes time.
Trees are placed and decorated. Greenery is arranged throughout the first floor. Mantels and tables are styled. Decorations move from one room to another until everything feels balanced.
Much of that work happens before visitors ever see the finished rooms.
It is one of the clearest examples of what the Interiors team does throughout the year: paying attention to the details that shape the way people experience the House.
See the Details in Person
The interiors of North Star House are meant to be experienced as a whole.
A photograph can capture a beautiful chair, window or Christmas tree, but walking from room to room reveals how those details work together.
Visitors can explore the first floor during regularly scheduled docent tours and learn more about the architecture, furnishings, decorative pieces and stories found throughout the House.
Docent-led tours are offered on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 1–3 PM.
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