OLIVER HOUSE IS DECKED OUT FOR CHRISTMAS

Angel: This antique angel still lends a touch of elegance and Christmas magic to the Oliver House. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

Sleigh: Nineteenth century Christmas songbooks and an antique sleigh filled with painted pine cones are among the touches that give the Oliver House a special Christmas aura this month. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

Stairs decorated: Robert Burett Oliver looks on as his former home shows the deckings of a festive holiday season. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

Area residents are missing out on a chance to witness the simple, yet ornate splendor of a Victorian era Christmas at Jackson's historic Oliver House Museum.

Competing events last weekend hindered attendance the first weekend of the Oliver House's special Christmas display. Members of the Jackson Heritage Association -- the organization that runs the museum -- hope attendance will pick up for the remainder of the season.

The historic Federal brick home is bedecked with period Christmas finery, adding to its already stately appearance. Nearly every room has a Christmas touch, from garlands and bows, to painted pine cones. Christmas trees with period ornaments and decorations are also on display, along with a book of Victorian Christmas songs and other items.

The house will be open today and Dec. 17, 1-4:30 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children. The fees go toward maintenance of the house.

The Oliver House actually has a history and a pre-history. While the present Federal-style house was constructed in 1855 by George Ferguson. The exhaustive restoration of the house in the late 1970s revealed an interesting fact, however. The brick structure was apparently built around a previously existing structure.

"It was definitely here by 1848," Bernard Schaper said of the first structure, apparently a two-room building with a "dog trot" in between. The Oliver House kitchen (and stone cellar beneath it) is part of the original structure. The fireplace there showed telltale signs of a crane having been attached to hold cooking pots, etc. During the restoration a replica cooking crane was installed.

"We decided to go ahead and make the kitchen true to its original period," Schaper said. "Of course that was earlier than the rest of the house."

The dog trot area was enclosed by the Fergusons, making one upstairs and one downstairs room. A ninth room was later added possibly used as a doctor's office by Mrs. Ferguson's second husband.

Of course the most famous occupants were Robert Burett and Marie Watkins Oliver. They lived in the home 1881-1896, during which time Oliver was county prosecuting attorney and then a Missouri state senator. The restoration and subsequent decorations returned the home to that period of time.

A number of actual Oliver family heirlooms have been donated for display and other period antiques have been given or were purchased by Jackson Heritage Association members. Much of the furniture is East Lake walnut. JHA member Phyllis Seabaugh has done most of the decorating.

Important guests in the home included three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan and Missouri Governor David R. Francis (also Secretary of the Interior and Ambassador to Russia). Marie Oliver would later design the first official Missouri state flag.

The old home sat empty and went through several abortive restoration attempts before the JHA was founded. After a lengthy restoration process -- of primarily volunteer labor, the home opened to the public in the early 1980s.

The Oliver House Museum, located at 224 East Adams in Jackson, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Private parties and special tours are also available.